My Inner Pridelander
by Ultimate Scar Fan
Summary: Return to the Pridelands once again and see it from a different pair of eyes, from a pair of eyes that all believed to be dead. But some know better...[Complete]
1. The 'Death' of the King

"I killed** MUFASA**!" I spat in Simba's face. The hyenas ran at the gold lion pinning me down, pushing him off me. The lionesses attacked too, one of them kicking me in the face. I snarled and got up, shaking my fur and slunk off to the path that led up to the top of Pride Rock, my brain worked quickly and I formed a plan that if I could get up to the top quick enough, I could surprise my nephew when he was looking for me.

I sensed a presence behind me, I turned my head, eyes widening at the sight of Simba, damn it, I hadn't been quick enough. I snapped my head back on the path in front of me and bounded up to the top of Pride Rock. I leapt through some flames that flared up in front of me and skidded a little on the ground as my feet found the surface once again. I raced over to the edge of the Rock and stared down at the peak below, stared down at either my or Simba's fate. I was in jammed in a corner, brilliant.

"Murderer…" I hear behind me. I turn, sinking low to the ground as Simba walked up to me. The rock just arrived to my metaphor of the situation I was in…If only I could remember what it was called...

"Simba, Simba please, please have mercy, I beg you." I pleaded, until I could think of a plan, I would bide my time, make him think, make him grieve.

"You don't deserve to live." He snarled. It was true…But I wasn't going down without a fight.

"But, Simba…I…Am, er…" I paused in thought, what would make this lion crack? "Family…" I panted, Simba kept walking forward, I decided to change tactic. "It's the hyenas who are the real enemy, it was their fault; it was their idea."

"Why should I believe you?" Simba growled, looming over my hunched body. "Everything you ever told me was a lie." Not everything, I still despise guessing games and I did kill Mufasa.

"What are you going to do?" I looked up at him, for the second time in my life, I was truly afraid. The first involved my distinctive facial feature, and namesake. "You wouldn't kill your own Uncle, would you?" I added quickly, knowing that Simba would do anything _not_ to kill someone; that would make him like me.

"No Scar, I'm not like you." He growled. What can I say? I'm a natural at this.

"Oh, Simba, thank you," I sighed in relief, now was the time to play the 'I'm-so-grateful-you-are-wonderful' tactic. "You are truly noble, I'll make it up to you, I promise. And how can I prove myself to you? Tell me, anything at all."

"Run, run away, Scar, and _never _return." He returned me to that day, that day when Mufasa died at my paws and boosted me up in the hierarchy list.

"Yes," I dragged out the word and slinked around him, my belly centimetres to the floor, my acid green eyes never leaving Simba's. I spotted a burning pile of coal, I wasn't stepping down just yet; it had gone too far to let my kingdom go now. "Of course," I stopped at the pile of coal, my eyes slowly turning to the ground. "As you wish, your **_MAJESTY!_**" I spat, flicking the ash into Simba's face.

He let out a roar of pain and turned to flick it out of his eyes. I took that opportunity to leap at him, my claws sunk into his fur, my jaw locking onto his neck, gnawing away. He rolled onto his side and then got up, now facing me; I slammed him onto his back and bit at his neck, the paws pushing on my narrow chest stopping me from crushing his windpipe. Suddenly, his paw came up a hit me square in the face, knocking me away, my nephew soon got up and leapt at me, his forepaws slamming into my shoulders. I stepped back and momentarily went down onto all four paws, Simba used the slam-Uncle-in-face method again, but it was much lighter this time.

I rose back onto my hind legs and struck my claws down his face, on both sides of it. He roared and there was a lot of pushing and shoving, then Simba rose up and brought his paw down on my face, yes again.

The hit was the hardest yet and almost knocked me to the ground, but I managed to regain some balance. I slapped my nephew straight back and he was knocked off balance long enough for me to stand up and hit him again with enough force that it knocked him back onto the hard stone.

I leapt after him, soaring through a wall of fire, the flames licking my mane, my forelegs outstretched and my mouth open to reveal my set of teeth. I saw Simba look at me, bare his teeth and then – just as I was about to land on top of him and sink my teeth into his neck – a force came up and kicked me in the stomach, sending me off the ledge and falling, falling off of Pride Rock, the most undesirable way to go. My body slammed into jutting rocks and then onto the hard ground at the bottom of the Rock. I lay there panting for a second.

When I got my breath back, I shifted and sat up, looking up at the bracken in front of me. I smiled as I saw Shenzi, Banzai and Ed in front. "Ah, my friends..." I said, standing up and taking a small step towards them.

Shenzi chuckled. "Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy," She said, turning to Banzai. "Right?"

"Yeah." He said murderously.

Then both of them said. "Ed?"

Ed laughed in a way that I had never heard before and licked his lips, and the rest of the hyena clan appeared out of the smoke. They advanced toward me, while I stuttered and tried to stop them, but it wasn't enough. My hindquarters pressed against the rock, I covered my face with one foreleg and when that didn't stop them, I shielded myself with my other foreleg, slipping down onto the ground and sitting on it, my back legs curling up, pressing into my stomach.

Shenzi leapt at my throat, her teeth sinking through my mane, trying to get at the tender skin underneath the hair, I was pushed onto the ground as the rest of the clan leapt onto my lithe form. Pain erupted through my body as teeth dug under my skin and tugged at it, I roared as one hyena succeeded in pulling away the skin on my left flank.

Shenzi was still gnawing at my throat and I just about had enough of it; I reached up with my paw and scraped my claws down her back, she yelped and released my neck. As soon as her head was visible, my claws raked down her face and ripped down her eye, she howled and went to bite me, but instead found herself inside my mouth and my teeth pressing into her skin.

I didn't want to kill her...Why would I?...Instead I threw her away from me into the flames. Hopefully she would survive.

I then turned my attention to the other hyenas. I clawed at them and struck them down, sending them flying into the flames, I managed to regain my paws and the upper hand. Many bit at my legs, trying to make me fall to the ground, at which I sank my teeth into the necks of the ones latched to my forelegs, dislodged them and threw them into the flames, while the ones clutching to my back legs were kicked off. It was strange that some of the distrustful animals seemed almost hesitant to attack, probably from the sight of such a scrawny lion striking down what were once his hyena comrades.

And it was actually the flames that saved me; the hyenas were slowly being burnt as the fire crawled towards me. It was around three feet from burning me alive and there were only around eleven hyenas left, so I took a chance and jumped. I leapt onto a hyena and then pushed off towards the flames, if I could leap through fire when attacking my nephew, I could leap through it to escape my death.

My paws hit the ground running; I was running away from, not only my death, but my nephew, mate and cubs too. Zira, Nuka and a newborn Vitani would surely be told that I was dead. I sighed I thought of my Zira, my beautiful mate who was expecting our third cub. But I couldn't think about that now, I had to get away from Pride Rock, so I kept running.

It wasn't exactly easy thinking of a plan when searing pain, blood slowly trickling down your body and the deafening roar of the flames behind you all acted as distractions. I turned my head over my shoulder as the rain started to patter down and the roar of the new king greeted my ears. I gritted my teeth in pain and anger; the flames were quenched, just like my reign. I collapsed on my stomach under a huge baobab tree. The last thing I saw was a small, limping shape with a stick before my vision blurred and swirled into darkness.

_"Will I like this surprise?"_

_"As the king's brother, you should have been first in line!" _

_"…Brother! Help me!"_

_"Long live the king"_

_"You don't deserve to live."_

_"Life's not fair, is it?"_

_"Everything you ever told me was a lie."_

_"__You didn't think about what they'd do to us. Did you?"_


	2. Shallow End of the Health Pool

A small groan passed my lips, I wiggled each of my toes and flicked my tail, twitched my ears and curled my lips and blinked open my eyes. Everything seemed to be in working order; however there was a compact weight around my legs, paws, neck, shoulders and hindquarters. I rolled my eyes around in my socket, taking in my surroundings. I looked at my legs; they were wrapped in leaves, banana tree leaves. Odd…

"Ah! So the wounded prince has awoken" A vaguely familiar voice called out from somewhere above me.

I tried to turn my head to look up, but a stabbing pain in my neck stopped me. Then an elderly, slender, grey, half bald mandrill, with a broken and bent-looking tail, white hair and yellow eyes appeared in front of me "And how are you feeling, young Taka?"

I snarled when he called me by _that _name "I've had a wonderful evening, but this wasn't it" I said "Now would you care to explain to me how and why I am here and still alive?"

"That's very simple, Taka, old Rafiki found you in a crevice in the wall of Pride Rock and took pity on you. He brought you back here with the help of Zazu"

"What do you mean, Zazu helped you? He hates me" I said.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that it was _you_ he helped" Rafiki said "He clutched onto your scruff and helped me carry you back here"

"I remember you" I said "You arrived in the Pridelands when I was a cub, just before…The hyena attack" I said.

"And old Rafiki remembers you, you being the one that put a snake in his bed late at night" He said, sitting down and crossing his legs.

"Well…Forgive and forget, right?" I asked with a slither of hope in my voice.

"Of course, you are part of Rafiki's home now, what with you being here for almost a week" Rafiki exclaimed.

"Anyway…Why have you decided to rescue and heal me? I thought you, along with all the other Pridelanders, hated me"

"Rafiki did, but that was before he saw you lying, helpless and left for dead in that crevice. And Mufasa sent him a message, he told him to take pity on you and let you live"

"You got a message from a ghost? And why would he – my murder victim may I remind you – want me to live?"

"How should I know? I only receive the messages and act upon them" Rafiki said, looking at me as though it was common knowledge, he also seemed to have stopped talking about himself in third person "And, murder victim or not, he is still your brother"

"Oh, don't remind me" I mumbled, grinning one side of my nose up in disgust.

"Now, come on Ta-" I cut him off.

"**STOP CALLING ME THAT! MY NAME IS SCAR!**" I exploded, going to lift my head up, but the pain in my neck stopped me.

The mandrill jumped back a little when I yelled at him "Alright, alright" He said, backing away and sitting under a painting. I squinted at the painting, trying to get a better look. Rafiki saw me looking "Ah, you have taken an interest in my paintings, have you? That's one that I made when Simba was born" He made no attempt to cover up Simba's name.

I flinched slightly "Wonderful, and why is it smudged? Looks as if someone dragged their paw across it"

"That was me, when I thought Simba was dead, and then I added the mane when I learned he was alive" Rafiki said.

"Right…" I said nothing more, just closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

"Have you ever thought about it?"

I opened my eyes again "Maybe, maybe not" I said "Regret is not something that I let myself indulge in, regret is weakness and weakness holds you back from your life goals" I closed my eyes again.

"Ta-I mean, Scar, have you ever thought about letting your defensive walls down?"

"No, the last time I did that, I was almost killed" I said, referring to my dance with death.

Rafiki said nothing more; I yawned slightly and focused on getting myself to sleep. It came slowly, gradually, but I could feel it enveloping me; my paws, legs and hindquarters losing the feeling of living.

_I was back in the gorge with a cub, Simba. The cub's voice reached my ears "Will I like this surprise?"_

_"__Simba, it's to __**die**__ for" I walked away and up the cliff. I waited until Simba's roar echoed off the walls of the gorge and then appeared where my hyena trio could see me. Seconds later, the wildebeest came thundering down the wall of the gorge. In a staged panic, I raced up to where Mufasa would be. I heaved my front paws up on a ledge and sure enough, Mufasa and that annoying bird, Zazu were standing in front of me. I said in a hurried panic "Mufasa! Stampede, in the gorge! Simba's down there!" Mufasa leapt into action at once and ran down to the gorge with me lagging behind slightly. We stood on a very wide ledge and looked about frantically for my nephew. I looked at the broken branch that Simba was clinging onto in the real event, but he wasn't there. Surprisingly it was me that barked "Zazu, scout ahead!" But he wasn't there. Odd…I looked over at Mufasa, he was there, but it looked as though he was frozen in place. I looked down at the stampede, nothing was moving. I jumped down amongst the wildebeest, weaving between their legs, looking for my nephew. I was starting to panic; this was turning into a failed plan. I froze myself as I saw Simba, lying dead on the floor._

_His little amber eyes stared at the hooves of the wildebeest, a small amount of blood trickled from his ears, nose and a small wound from his head. He had other puncture wounds across his tiny body._

With a sharp intake of breath, my eyes snapped open and, ignoring the pain, I rolled onto my stomach and bared my teeth, staring at the space between my paws. I drummed my toes on my left paw as Simba's lifeless body haunted my thought process.

I was confused over why I felt like this, why had I not relished in that dream? Wasn't that what I had wanted to happen? So why had I woken up in such a panic? Could it be that I _loved_ the lion that tried to kill me? I admit…I really did adore the little thing when he was a cub, annoying and naïve as he was. But that was merely an Uncle-Nephew attachment. Nothing more, it had definitely disappeared when he pinned me down on Pride Rock.

I huffed and wished I could stand up; I raised my head, the pain in my neck not quite so bad now, more of an ache. I looked around for Rafiki, I found him lying on his back on a grass bed, snoring. I rolled my eyes and crossed my paws.

I looked around my surroundings, having been interrupted earlier when I had started the same activity just after I had woken up. I seemed to be in a tree that was almost a bowl, the floor and walls were a pale brown, leaves hung above me and there were lots of little coconut bowls littered about the place. A stick rested against the wall, which must belong to Rafiki. It seems a very quiet, peaceful place – perfect for an injured lion to heal. I lay my chin on my left leg, facing Rafiki who was still snoring away.

A gust of wind brought pale coloured leaves drifting into the tree, through my mane and settling in Rafiki's hand, I raised one eyebrow slightly and raised my head. Rafiki stirred and looked at the leaves in his hand, with a yawn; he stood up and walked over to me.

"Now, Scar, whenever you see these leaves, get me to come over" Rafiki said.

"And I should do that because?" I said, dragging out the word 'because' in a sarcastic manner while turning my head to the left and moving it toward Rafiki slightly.

"These leaves are the sign of Mufasa"

"Excuse me?" I said, jerking my head back.

"These leaves mean that Mufasa wants to tell me something"

I shook my head slowly "Alright then" I said, not wanting to question further. This mandrill clearly had a screw loose or something. I watched him walk back to his leaf bed and take a coconut bowl and start to mash the leaves in the bowl with his hands. Strange monkey…


	3. Bad Back, You Know

The next challenge was standing, walking (the first, so Rafiki said, was coming back to consciousness). I had been with Rafiki for about two weeks now and he said that I was just about ready to start moving about. I was slightly apprehensive at first because whenever I tried to apply pressure on my legs and force my useless limbs to support my equally useless body (during my first week of staying with Rafiki, while was conscious), my legs either gave way and sent me thudding to the ground or emitted so much pain that I couldn't try any further without the worry that I would break something.

I said this to Rafiki, he listened carefully "If you fall, I will help you, I am here for a reason" He said.

My shoulders dropped slightly "Fine" I said.

I readied my paws, putting my front ones under my shoulders and my back ones under my stomach, I felt as though I was about to pounce at an antelope. Holding my breath, I tested my pain scale; it resulted in a small ache in my joints; my elbows and hocks. I gritted my teeth and forced my legs to straighten into a standing position. I could feel something pushing my stomach up, I looked around to see Rafiki holding his cane under me, and my breath came in ragged puffs, my joints starting to hurt even more. But at last, I was standing, shakily, but I was on my paws.

I stared at the ground, panting softly. I looked over at Rafiki and smiled; an actual, genuine smile, not some sarcastic smirk or an evil grin, but a kind, thankful smile "Now try and walk" Rafiki said.

I swallowed and looked back at my paws, my jaw stiffened and my brow furrowed into a determined expression and raised my right paw, then took a small step forward, then raised my back right paw and moved it forward, then I tried to walk normally. But it was a slight limp on my left forepaw that put me off the idea of exiting the tree.

Rafiki came directly in front of my face and stared at me "What's the matter?"

I raised an eyebrow "Nothing" I said, my tone carefree and as if there really was nothing wrong.

"Don't go insulting my intelligence, Scar" Rafiki scolded "I know there's something wrong, I can tell by the way you flick your tail"

"I do not feel as though I should venture out into the savannah, if I get into a fight, what happens then? It'll be game over for me" I said.

"Look, no one is going to recognise you" Rafiki bent down slightly and took my paw in his hand; I furrowed my brow and watch him slowly take off the bandages to reveal my dusty brown fur. As the bandage disappeared from my elbow to my paw, pale pink scars appeared where the bandage disappeared. I blinked in shock. Rafiki took off all of my bandages, leaving me looking like a scarred wreck. I looked around the tree, looking for a reflective surface to study myself in.

Rafiki tapped my shoulder "Come with me" He said and then led the way out of the tree, I followed him reluctantly and he led me through the savannah, into a forest and then into a clearing. A pond sat in front of me, a rock poking out into the middle of it.

I padded across the rock and peered into the water. My reflection stared back at me, a scar over my mouth, under my initially scarred eye, two very small scars on either side of that and a two-claw mark on the bridge of my nose. I turned my body to the left and observed the rake scar down my shoulder, the squiggle on the top of my left front leg, the four-claw mark near my elbow. On my back was a bite mark, the smaller teeth puncturing my skin and the canines dragging back slightly. Claw marks ripped my stomach and teeth marks like the ones on my back sat on my hindquarter, down my leg was a one-claw mark near to my stomach and a two-claw mark on the other side of my leg, lower down was a one-claw mark and smaller scratch marks.

I turned to the right and on my shoulder was a small circular scar where one of the hyenas ripped off a piece of my skin. A few more claw marks ran their way down my side; lower legs and my right ear had half of it missing.

My shoulders sagged at my sorry appearance; I had become a sordid sight. How could Rafiki even stand to look at me? While I was drowning in self-pity, I didn't notice my reflection change. But when I did, I wished that I hadn't. Mufasa was staring back at me, his face relaxed and comforting. I stared into his eyes, amber and so unlike mine it was hard to tell we were brothers. I swallowed and leant closer "Brother? Why…Why are you here?" I whispered.

"Scar…" A ghostly voice boomed from above me, I looked up, there he was: Mufasa was in the clouds.


	4. Mufasa? No, You're Dead

"What are you doing here?" I said, glaring at the sky.

"You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself Scar. You are more than what you have become. You are more than a murderer, more than a villain, you are a survivor, but surviving comes with great consequences, you have survived something that you shouldn't have, I am here to remind you that mortality runs through your veins, do not get cocky. Remember who you are" Mufasa said, looking down at me, with an expression that only a ghost could manage.

"I remember exactly who I am. I am Scar, Ahadi and Uru's son, brother to you and Uncle to Simba" I said.

"Remember who you were before that, you were Taka, a kind and considerate cub that cared about his family and would do anything to protect them"

"Until he met the hyenas, then he was killed when their mother struck him across the eye and Scar was born" I said with a snarl hiding in my voice.

Mufasa shook his head "Taka was not killed that day, he just ceased to exist in your world, you thought he had completely disappeared, but in fact, he lives in you"

"**NO!** Taka is **DEAD!**" I yelled, turning away from him.

"He lives in you…" Mufasa kept repeating it until I couldn't hear him anymore.

"What was _that_? The weather is very peculiar. Don't you think?" Rafiki said, chuckling to himself.

"Yes, it looks like the winds are changing" I said, turning to look at him, didn't he just see Mufasa come back as a ghost?

"Ah. Change is good" Rafiki mused.

"Change is all around us, all the time, it has to be a good thing if it happens all the time" I said "Oh, great, now I'm saying lines that should be coming out of your mouth" I added, sarcastically, but in a jokey way instead of an insulting way.

"Ah, yes, you have been spending too long with me" He said, smiling eagerly.

"Maybe I should be going then" I joked.

Rafiki laughed "Maybe you should go back to Pride Rock!" He cried, getting a little ahead of himself, he realised what he said with a jolt "Scar, I-"

"Yes, and maybe you should return to the monkey mental tree" I snapped, turning away from him and storming off with as much dignity as I could muster with a limp. I headed back to Rafiki's tree, climbing back up the staircase of rocks that Rafiki had put there for my benefit.

I walked back to my grass bed and slumped down with a sigh. I laid my head on my crossed paws and stared at the wood in front of me, imagining my return to Pride Rock. I doubt it would go down very well; I could see it now:

_I walked across the savannah, my new scars shining in the sunlight; I stopped at the foot of Pride Rock. I heard a roar, several actually. I turned my head upwards and saw Simba, all the lionesses of the Pride standing behind him on the peak of Pride Rock "Why have you come back?" Simba roared at me. I didn't get the chance to say anything before Simba leapt down and padded towards me, the lionesses followed him. I took a step back with every step forward that Simba took. He growled, stopped and leant back on his haunches, ready to pounce at me. I started to back away quicker, but I bumped into the lionesses. Simba snarled and leapt at me, he slammed his paws into my chest and knocked me backwards, the lionesses stepped back to give room to fall. Smacking the back of my head on the hard rock, I stared up at Simba, trembling slightly, his teeth were bared and his head was rising higher and higher, until he thrust it down at my neck and sank his jaws into my skin._

I snapped my eyes open; I had just envisioned my own death. But I hadn't realised something…I had hardly recognised myself when I looked in the pond; my new scars had changed my appearance. So why would any of the Pridelanders recognise me?

I could give myself a new name, give myself a new back story, make it seem as though I had never been near the Pridelands or the Outlands. This had to be one of the most wonderful plans that I'd ever had! Surely nothing could go wrong, if I hardly recognised myself, then what were the chances of anyone else recognising me? I laughed with pleasure, at which point Rafiki walked in "Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"I just had a marvellous idea" I said, baring my teeth in a wide mouthed smile.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is a plan that will worry me?"

I told him my plan and he sighed "Scar, this will never work, someone will recognise you" He said.

"Ha, I didn't even recognise myself" I said "If this plan doesn't work, then it was nice knowing you, I'll take my final bow with my head held high" I smiled again "I just need to think of a name…" I mused.

"How do you like the sound of Kijinga? It's Swahili for stupid!" Rafiki said.

"No…Kiwa…Swahili for outcast" I said, smiling "I also like the sound of Majuto, but that's Swahili for regret, and at the minute I'm not feeling regret"

"I still don't like this plan" Rafiki said.

"It doesn't matter if you don't like it, I do, and that's what matters" Despite my confident manner, I was quite apprehensive and nervous about this plan, what if someone really did recognise me, as Rafiki thought they would? Was I as welcoming for death as I made out? "Rafiki...I won't be going back to Pride Rock, until the time is right" I said.


	5. Life's Not Fair

Settling down for the night was rather quite taxing; I walked around the tree, trying to get rid of this damned limp, but it just seemed to make it even worse. Rafiki watched me, giving me advice on how to walk properly and wear off the limp, but it didn't work. In the end, he told me to lie back down and sleep it off.

I lay on my side, then my front, then my back. I couldn't seem to shake the feeling of Mufasa's ghostly eyes keeping an eye on me, all the time.

Finally, I managed to sleep, but it wasn't a peaceful one.

_There I was, in the gorge. But I was sitting at the foot of the rock that Simba had sat on and no one else was around. I settled down, my back pressing against the rock, ready to fall asleep, when I heard a rumbling sound, I looked at a couple of small pebbles in front of me. They were vibrating, I stood up and turned my head…No, the hyena clan was thundering towards me, I leapt into action and charged forwards, racing up the gorge. I jumped up onto a broken branch and dug my claws into the wood. The hyenas bounded underneath me, when I saw Ahadi, my father, leaping through the air, soaring over the top of me, grabbing my scruff and taking me with him on his descent into the throng of charging scavengers. He threw me up at the wall of the gorge, I slammed into it, pressing my claws into the rock, trying my hardest not to fall. I climbed my way up, little by little until I was almost at the top; I looked up and saw Mufasa "Brother, help me, please!" I called up to him._

_He lunged forward and, as he did, the gorge turned from brown to black and wisps of green smoke rose up out of the ravine. Mufasa dug his claws into the tender skin on my paws and I roared out with pain, he leaned towards me slowly "Goodnight, my outcast of a brother" He whispered, his tone deadly and malicious._

_And with a sudden flash of movement, he pulled my claws off the gorge wall and threw me into the air, I yelled out in fury, panic and fear._

I awoke to my own yell, and looked about me frantically. My ragged, panting breath echoed off the walls of the tree. No gorge, no hyenas and no Mufasa could be seen around me. I sighed and lay my head on my paws; I calmed my breathing and thought about Mufasa's chilling line of "Goodnight, my outcast of a brother" I stared up at a place in tree leaves where I could see the night sky "What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you?" I whispered.

I growled and just stared at the sky "Hear that, brother, I'm falling to pieces here, while you're free from it all up there" I muttered to him. I lay my head down on my paws and huffed quietly, my eyes slithered over to Rafiki, who was sitting up and staring at me, I sat up myself and started to stutter helplessly "Um, how, er, um, how long, er, have you been, er, sitting there?"

"Long enough" Rafiki said, calmly.

"You didn't hear me…" I trailed off as he nodded.

"Do you really feel as though you're falling to pieces?" He asked.

I nodded "I saw his ghost and…Now I just can't shake the feeling of being a murderer, what ever he said about being more than what I've become…I'm not more than that, all I am is just a stupid, jealous brother to the dead king that I murdered" I hung my head, the reality of what I had done hitting me like a ton of boulders.

Rafiki came over and put his hand on my shoulder "My past…It hurts" I said.

"Ah, yes, the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it, or…Learn from it" Rafiki said.

"And how do I learn from murdering my brother? Fighting my nephew? Getting attacked by hyenas? Or how about manipulating my nephew as a cub that he murdered his own father?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Well, at least you'll know not to do those things again"

"Rafiki, for God's sake, that's not helping!" I cried out, standing up and walking to the exit, I sat down and stared out at the night sky.

"Look, you're just going to have to learn from your past how you see fit" Rafiki said "I can't tell you how to take my advice, much less than I can tell you how to speak" The monkey came over and sat next to me "Just think about it" He said.

I thought about it and in the end, I came up with two options "Leadership is not based on position, when I took my place as king; I thought everyone would follow me and obey my commands. In fact, even though the lionesses accepted my position, my poor decision making and lack of influence prevented them from accepting me as a leader…" I trailed off, I had finally come to terms with the fact that I was not good king material "People don't care how much you know unless they know you care, the other lions preferred to starve than serve – they felt betrayed. The only animals that supported me were the hyenas because they thought I was their friend – and to three of them, I was – but once I made that stupid comment, blaming them for my mistakes, they turned on me as well" I sighed and looked at Rafiki "Does that suffice?" I asked.

"That's enough, in fact, that's more than enough" He said "That reminds me, I need to go now"

"Why do you have to do that?" I asked.

"I need to go and talk to Simba" He said.

"Excuse me?!" I cried out, leaping to my feet.

"I'm talking to him about Kiara's presentation, I have to arrive as the sun rises, and I will stop back here to make sure you're ok, but then I'll be off again. It would make it easier if you gave me a lift back to Pride Rock after I come back"

"Fine" I huff.

"You'll be alright here on your own?"

"Yes, I won't go wandering off anywhere, no matter what catches my interest, most probably you'll find me asleep" I said.

Rafiki nodded and grabbed his stick and hobbled off gracefully into the distance, I watched him go until I couldn't see him anymore. I walked over to the supply of meat and took a zebra leg. Rafiki had taken them from Pride Rock, he never told me more than that, but I assumed that he took a little each day, seeing as the stock never seemed to differ from its quantity. I settled down on my grass bed and gnawed on the leg, scraping the meat off of the bone with my tongue.

I swallowed my last mouthful of zebra haunch, shoved the bone to the side and lay my head on paws. I focused on falling asleep to good dreams.

_I was on the peak of Pride Rock, lying right at the edge. It was night time and the stars above shone beautifully, constellations shone as clear as day and a blue hue covered it all. A cub sat at my paws, a dark greyish-chestnut with a pale cream muzzle, paws, and underbelly with a dusty black tuft of mane on the top of his head. He looked up at me "Dad?" He asked._

_I looked down at him "Yes, Nuka?"_

_"__Will I ever be king?"_

_I hesitated; Kovu was my chosen heir "Well…Maybe"_

_"__What do you mean, maybe?"_

_"__I mean…" How did one explain hierarchy to a cub? "I mean, my father told me and my brother together, and I simply can't tell you while you are on your own"_

_Nuka stood up and put his paws on my chest "Aw, come one Dad, please?" He said, giving me a wishful expression that melted my heart._

_"__No, no, no, I can't, it wouldn't be fair on your brother" I said, looking away from him._

_Nuka huffed and plopped back down on my paws. I heard a skittering of claws scrabbling on the rock behind me, both Nuka and me looked where the sound was coming from and saw a three week old auburn cub with a dark brown tail tuft "Kovu" I said, as the cub skidded to a halt, panting "Where's the fire?" I asked, as a term of asking why he was in such a rush._

_Kovu looked confused "Well, actually" He said "There's a fire in the plains, Mum and Tamu are caught in it" Nuka hopped off my paws and I leapt to my feet, racing off of Pride Rock and across the savannah, I could smell the smoke before I saw it. As I bounded up a hill, I saw orange flames licking the sky "Zira, Tamu!" I yelled, leaping onto the brow of the hill._

_"__Scar!" yelled a voice that sounded like Zira._

_I stared into the circle of fire that was too perfect to be natural. I readied myself for the burning sensation and leapt into the flames. When I landed, I immediately saw Zira and Tamu, my daughter; my mate was standing over our daughter, tears rolling down her cheeks. I walked over to her, stiffly. I look down at Tamu; she is burnt badly, all down her legs, neck, hindquarters, tail and face. And she wasn't breathing._

I snap my eyes open, jerking my head up, panting. I sniff the air desperately for smoke…None. I let out a sigh of relief and close my eyes. Tamu, my beautiful daughter, died in that fire and I couldn't do anything to save her. When I returned that day, the Pride was very sympathetic and tried to help me through it. That was the day when Nuka and I fell out; we had an argument about the fact that I couldn't save his sister. He blamed me for her demise, not his mother, but his father.

I sighed with exasperation and lay my head down again, putting a paw over my eyes and tried not to cry. It had been years since I had cried, the fire event, a few days before Simba had returned to the Pridelands, had been the most recent time that I had wept.

I looked up as I heard the clack of Rafiki's stick. He smiled at me and started to walk over, but then stopped "Scar? What's the matter?" He asked, coming over to me and sitting down next to my head.

I turned my head away from him and placed it on my leg "Nothing that concerns you" I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

Rafiki put his hand on my chin and pulled my head round to face him "Tell me, I can't help it you don't-" I cut him off.

"I don't want help!" I exclaimed, wrenching my head out of my grip and walked off to where I was sitting after my gorge nightmare. I stared at the sky; turning orange, pink and yellow as the sun started to rise; the clouds, fluffy and pearly white, were under-toned with a hazy pink. It was a rather peaceful setting and I would have enjoyed it more if I was wasn't so annoyed at Rafiki and a nightmare that hadn't haunted me for years. I looked up at the brightest star that was still visible and envisioned Tamu's face surrounding it, with her eye over the star. Rafiki appeared out of the corner of my vision "It's time for me to go" He said.

"Better get running then" I quipped, standing up and sinking lower to the ground for him to climb on. He smiles and put his hands on my shoulders and lifts himself onto my back. He put his stick across my shoulders. I started to walk down the rocks and in the direction of Pride Rock and then started to trot; I felt no pain but my left leg still wasn't limp-free. I started to lope gently and that was slightly easier than trotting.

A few minutes passed and I stopped a few metres from Pride Rock. Simba looked over at us and furrowed his brow at me. Rafiki got off and walked over to Simba, I waited behind a rock where I could only see the mountains towering into the sky, although, I could hear the animals screaming, trumpeting, braying, squawking in a chaotic melody.

'_This is what I missed at Simba's presentation? I'm glad it did slip my mind_' I think to myself, sarcastically. Soon, Rafiki appeared around the rock "Simba is coming to meet you, stay cool and don't do anything that will make him recognise you" He said in a very quiet whisper.

I lower my head and hunch my shoulders in a stance of submission. I roll my eyes up at a lion with a fiery mane appearing around the corner, he looks down at me disdainfully "And who might you be?" He sneers.

I raise my head, if Simba isn't going to be respectful to strangers – murdering uncle or not – then I won't be respectful to him.

"I'm Majuto" I said, narrowing my eyes slightly. After my dream of the fire and Tamu's demise, regret was all I was feeling at the moment.

Simba takes in my rugged appearance "How did you get those scars?" He asks, walking in circles around me.

"In a hyena attack" I dead-pan.

Simba stops in front me and stares at my face curiously "Oh, you want me to elaborate?" I ask, sarcastically, raising my eyebrows in mock surprise "I was hunting on the outskirts of the Outlands and took down an antelope, as I was eating, I could sense someone or something surrounding me, and that was when the hyenas attacked and left me bleeding half to death, they also made off with my antelope. Rafiki found me and took me in" I said, the whole idea coming into my head without too much thought.

Simba mulled this over "Right…Well, you're welcome to stay here if you wish, but you can stay with Rafiki if you want…Majuto" He said, saying my new name disdainfully. He turned his back on me and I turn my head to Rafiki, he waited until Simba was out of sight and then a couple more minutes after that.

"I thought you were calling yourself 'Kiwa'" He said.

I shrugged "And I thought you said Simba was a nice king" I quip.

"He just doesn't like strangers" Rafiki explained "It doesn't help that he has trust issues"

"Let's get back then" I said, sinking lower to the ground again, Rafiki climbed on and we loped back to the tree.


	6. It's Far Too Dangerous

Rafiki started to spend less and less time in the tree. I put it down to business that monkey shamans tend to do when they're not looking after injured lions. But, I took his absence as an opportunity to go hunting. You see, Rafiki didn't like me to go hunting on my own because he was still apprehensive about me being recognized by anyone.

I would always shake my head and shrug it off, but reassure him that I wouldn't. But, of course, I lied. To start off with, I would stay in the tree and await his return, but then I started to notice a pattern: Rafiki would disappear for three hours in the afternoon, each and every day. So, I started to venture out for two hours each day. I would wait until I could no longer see Rafiki's silhouette on the horizon, then jump down the rocks and go hunting.

I needed to train myself to hunt if I was going to be living on my own, but my body wasn't really, well, made for hunting. As a cub, I hadn't been taken on hunting lessons very much; I had always been passed off for Mufasa. However, my mother, Uru, had taken me on about five hunting lessons, so my body was half-way there. But my recent hunting expositions hadn't been very successful; I always ended up with bruised ribs. Rafiki never noticed my wheezing, albeit I didn't let him. But despite my recurring injuries, I kept at it, in the hope that I would catch something. And this time, I felt lucky.

One such hunting trip, I was stalking a zebra herd. I crouched in the bushes and located the weakest member of the herd; I saw an old mare that was limping profusely. Out of pity for the animal, knowing what she was going through from recent experience, knowing that she wouldn't survive long, knowing that another predator may not be so hesitant, I chose her.

I crouch in the long grass and carefully slink forward. My ears (well…One and a half) were shoved right forward, straining to hear every sound. My paws pushed into the ground silently, each footprint leaving a mark in the mud. I kept my eyes on my chosen mare, and pushed through the grass, luckily the wind was blowing in my direction, so the zebra couldn't smell me and if any did see the grass rustling, they would (hopefully) think the wind was blowing it.

But suddenly, the zebras brayed and galloped in my direction, I crouched low to the ground, hoping against hope that none of the zebras would trample me, but they seemed to sense my presence and veer around and jump over the top of me. I scanned through the sea of black and white and tried to pinpoint the cause for my prey to be scared off.

"All I wanted was somethin' to eat!" A hyena…

"There ain't no way we're gettin' them back, Gawd's sake Ed, ya can't-" It was a female hyena…Shenzi! "Oh right…" She said, sadly.

I wanted to race over and jump around her like a playful cub; happy to see my friend…But then I remembered that she told me what would happen if I ever returned to the hyena lair: That I would be ripped apart and there would be no mercy. I watched her, crouching in the grass.

Shenzi paced, staring at the ground, and then she pricked her ears in my direction. I crouched deeper into the grass, hiding myself from view. Although I could see her through gaps in the strands of grass, but I prayed to a God that I don't believe in that she couldn't see me. The female hyena furrowed her brow and stared closer at where I was crouching.

Hopefully, Shenzi would stop staring and go away because I was starting to get cramps in my elbows and hocks, just like when I had first tried standing up. The cramps were making me irritable and murderous revenge was returning to my mind, I wanted to leap out and pin Shenzi to the ground. But I know that she is younger than me, and a lot quicker. Although, probably not as strong, seeing that I am a lion and she is a hyena. I bare my teeth at myself and try to banish the thought.

Finally, Shenzi moves on, she turns her back on me and walks away. I sigh slightly with relief and stand up, stretching out my aching joints. I sniff the air and follow the scent of the zebra herd, I check the sun. It's not time to be back yet.

It seems like days until I find the zebras again, but really it only takes about an hour. I crouch down in the grass, moving forward slowly; eyes pinned on the limping mare. I pressed my paws into the mud, the squishy dirt silencing my movements. The grass parted as I pushed through it and I was close enough to my chosen mare now to separate it from the herd, I started to lope into the herd, once the zebras spotted me, they brayed and scattered. I sped up, barging between my mare and another zebra that was protecting her. From the smell of the other zebra, he was related to my mare in some way. The zebra kicked and bit at me, at which I snapped at its ankles and pushed my weight against it and finally, I managed to get him away from the wounded mare.

I slowed down and let the zebra run in front of me and then I leapt up onto her rump, digging my claws into her muscles, she brayed loudly and collapsed onto her side. I jumped off and watched her laying there, expecting her to get up and run. I approach quietly and sit in front of her head, she looks up at me "Just do it" She said, stretching her neck to expose her jugular.

"Most animals would beg me _not_ to kill them" I said "Why are _you_ different?"

"I have no hope left, you chose me because of this limp, didn't you?" She pauses as if waiting for an answer.

"W-Well…Um…I…" I stutter, in the end I just nodded.

"How long would it be until another lion, cheetah or leopard would be in the same position as you are? Albeit, you are a lot more polite and hesitant than any others, so just kill me and use my body to sustain yourself" She said.

"I'm very sorry about this, madam" I said, closing my eyes and sinking my teeth into her neck, where she would die with no pain or suffering. I pulled back, ripping out a chunk of her neck, chewing then swallowing and look into her lifeless eyes. I hang my head, she died with all her dignity still intact, there was no begging for me to spare her life; she knew she would die sooner or later. Unlike me, who begged for the hyenas not to kill me and shredded the dignity I had left by panicking.

I ate my fill and then dragged the rest of the carcass to where I knew Shenzi and any other hyenas would find it; a couple of miles away from the Elephant Graveyard. I froze as I heard the clacking of bones being swept aside. I looked to where the sound was coming from and started to back away as I saw the distinct silhouette of Shenzi.

I panicked and backed away, but Shenzi had already seen me "Who are you?" She said, shoving her face in mine.

"I…" I pulled back and took a step away from her "I am Majuto"

"Majuto's your name, eh? Well, wazza big ol' lion like you doin' roun' 'ere?" She said.

I chuckle to myself, Shenzi never changes, she always was the gangster of the Trio "Well, I'll be taking this zebra carcass away with me if you're going to be that rude" I said.

"Zebra…? Ooh, now we're gettin' somewhere" She said, looking at the carcass with greed, and stepping closer to it, licking her lips.

"Now, now, this is to share with your…Well, the rest of you" I scolded.

"An' 'ow do you know about the res' of us?"

"Don't insult my intelligence, when there's one hyena, there's more" I said, lifting my head and smirking "That's the rule of the African Plains"

Shenzi shrugs and grabs the carcass by the top of its neck, the smooth, black mane filling her mouth. Then dragged it away into the cavern "Cheers, mate" She called back, her voice muffled from the zebra.

My whole body relaxed with a sigh of relief; Shenzi hadn't recognised me.

* * *

I traipsed back to the tree and as I climbed up the rocks, I wished that I hadn't even left the tree in the first place. For two reasons: I hadn't washed the blood off my muzzle and claws and Rafiki was standing at the entrance of the tree. I spot his feet and slowly look up, dreading meeting his eyes "Where have you been?" He asks; his eyes hard and glaring into mine, his face screwed up into rage.

I hang my head and walk past him, my chin fur practically dragging on the ground, eyes downcast. I had been out too long and I hadn't checked the sun, I had been out of the tree for around about three hours and a half. What had happened was: After I had tracked the zebra herd again after they had been frightened off, I took about half an hour eating and then a further half an hour taking the carcass to the Elephant Graveyard. I hadn't checked the sun to tell me that I had already been out for two hours and I decided to sit at the pond that Rafiki had taken me to for a further hour and a half.

I pad over to my grass bed and slump down, crossing my paws and putting my jugular on them, my chin fur touching the ground slightly. Rafiki stood in front of me "I repeat: Where were you?" He snapped, this was very uncharacteristic of the monkey, he never snapped at me "I was worried as sin about you, everything was running through my mind; had you been captured, killed, attacked, dragged off somewhere, had the hyenas found you and ripped you to pieces?" At the last option, I looked up and tail flicked nervously.

"Rafiki, I went hunting" I confessed, standing up.

"You did what? I thought I specifically told you _not_ too"

"I've been going out hunting for a while now, I needed to do something because I couldn't just sit around here all day" I said, everything spilling out of my mouth before I could stop it "I just felt as though I should start adding to the meat supply myself, I don't want you to get into trouble, however you get the meat"

"Don't you listen to me? When I tell you not to do something, then you shouldn't-" I cut him off.

"**IT'S MY LIFE!** You can't control me, you've said it before! You said, and I quote: That you can't control how I think, much less than you can control how I speak!" I insulted Rafiki like I had never insulted him before, I could tell by the look on his face. His mouth dropped and he no longer looked like he wanted to strangle the life out of me.

I sighed and my shoulders dropped "I'm sorry…" I said and lay back down with my back to him.

I heard a sigh from behind me and Rafiki sat down in front of me "Scar, I have to tell you where I have been going…" He paused, as if preparing himself for the news "I have two friends and I've been going over to Pride Rock and talking to them about you"

"What about me?"

"You've become…Quite irritable lately, especially after you've just woken up, I figured that it was from your nightmares. So I told my two friends about it and asked if they could work their magic on you, like they did Simba"

"And these two friends are?"

"Timon and Pumbaa" Rafiki said.


	7. I'm Surrounded by Idiots

I sat on my grass bed, cleaning my paws, Timon and Pumbaa would be here soon and I thought I had better make myself presentable. I had never met this duo, but I had seen them around the time when I fell from Pride Rock, but all I had really heard was a voice say "I'd say Scar was down and out" I snarled to myself at the memory.

Rafiki told me a little of what the pair would do to help me.

_"__They have a special phrase: Hakuna Matata, it means 'No worries', I told Timon that" He had said proudly._

_"__Why couldn't you just teach me this?" I had asked "I would much prefer you to talk to me than a meerkat and a warthog"_

_"__We need as many animals on your side as possible, and if Timon and Pumbaa are two of those animals, Simba will accept you more easily" Rafiki had said "Disguises don't last forever"_

I still wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of meeting the two. Pulling me out of my thoughts, Rafiki called over "They're here"

I sighed and straightened my back, ignoring the dull ache in the middle of it. I looked towards the entrance as a tall and thin meerkat with pale brown fur, broken only by darker stripes on his back and a patch of cream on his chest walked in, followed closely by a red warthog with a black mane and tail tuft, which was held high, characteristic of the warthog. I lift my head a little higher, my mouth frowning, this probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do as it just showed how irritable I really was.

"Eesh, this is the guy we're helping?" Timon said, looking at Rafiki "What feasted on you?" He turned his head back to me. Then, both he and Pumbaa started to laugh hysterically, this was clearly a personal joke between the two.

"I don't appreciate being the laughing stock of an overgrown gopher and a pig" I said, sarcastically.

"Did you just call me a pig?" Pumbaa said, snapping out of his laughing almost at once.

"Open your ears, they're big enough" I replied.

"They call me Mr Pig!" He cried, scraping his forefoot on the foot, snorting through his nose.

Timon stood in front of him "Easy, Pumbaa, easy" He said, the meerkat looked over his shoulder at me, sneering "Do not call him that, **EVER!**"

"Note taken, gopher" I said, with a secret smirk.

Rafiki elbowed my ribs, looking at me with a look that said "Scar, wind your neck in" I looked at him with only my eyes, moving my head slightly to the right to see him more clearly. I raised one eyebrow at him in a way that told him that I would try.

Pumbaa snorted one final time and sat down with a huff. I decide to speak "Sorry about that, Pumbaa, but I think you can see why Rafiki called you over here"

Pumbaa smiles lightly "It's fine, you weren't to know about it…Er, what's your name?"

I side glance Rafiki, he hadn't told them this? What kind of idiot doesn't do that? "I'm Majuto, and I'm also very surprised that Rafiki didn't tell you that" I look at Rafiki, full on.

Rafiki shrugged "I wanted to keep them guessing"

"Well, if we'd seen him before we would've guessed Vulture Bait" Timon said, starting to splutter with laughter.

I leapt to my feet and lunged towards Timon, teeth bared, snarl rumbling in my throat, shoving my muzzle in the meerkat's face. Timon leapt back in fright, scurrying up Pumbaa's leg and onto the top of his head, hiding in his tuft of black mane. I think everyone was surprised, because I saw Timon's reaction, Pumbaa raised his brow and stepped back a little, his head rising a little higher and pinning his ears back. All I heard from Rafiki was a gasp of "Majuto!"

"I said it before and I'll say it again: I don't appreciate being made the laughing stock of an overgrown gopher and a warthog" I snarled, raising my head and standing straight, but still with my teeth bared.

Rafiki shoved his way between me and the duo, he pushed my chest, trying to get me to move backwards, for Rafiki, I did "Majuto, what are you playing at? You think Timon and Pumbaa are going to help you if you're acting like this?"

I said nothing, just looked at the floor and shrugged.

"Well, the answer is no" Rafiki said. He turned to the duo "I'm so sorry about this; he isn't usually so defensive of himself"

"Well, Pumbaa, we've got our work cut out for us here" Timon said.

"Let's get to work" Pumbaa said. Rafiki walked over to the far wall and sat down.

Timon hopped off Pumbaa's head and onto my back, he climbed onto the top of my head and hung his head down in front of my eyes "Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase" He said.

"Hakuna Matata! Ain't a passing craze" Pumbaa said, appearing to the left of Timon's head from where he had been standing before a meerkat head obscured my vision.

'_Oh no, this is turning into a musical number_' I thought.

" It means no worries for the rest of your days " Timon piped up again, hopping onto my nose.

" It's our problem-free philosophy "

"Hakuna Matata!" Both of them sang.

"Those two words will solve all your problems" Pumbaa said, cutting out the singing.

"That's right. Take Pumbaa here" Timon cleared his throat " Why, when he was a young warthog... "

" When I was a young warthog " Pumbaa sang, loudly and in an opera style.

"Very nice" Timon said, clearing out his ear with his finger.

"Thanks"

" He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal. He could clear the savannah after every meal " Timon sang.

" I'm a sensitive soul though I seem thick-skinned. And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind. And oh, the shame " Pumbaa cried.

" He was ashamed " Timon interjected.

" Thought of changing my name "

" What's in a name? "

" And I got downhearted "

" How did ya feel? "

" Every time that I... "

"Hey! Pumbaa! Not in front of the kid!" Timon cried, leaping off my nose and clamping the warthog's mouth shut.

"Oh. Sorry" Pumbaa said, bashfully.

I lifted my paw and sliced the air with it to show there was no harm done.

"Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata! Ain't a passing craze" The two sang "It means no worries for the rest of your days…It's our problem-free philosophy…Hakuna Matata!"

"So, does that help?" Pumbaa asked me.

I hesitated, so Timon popped something else into the game field "You've got to put the past behind you" He said "From what Rafiki said, it sounds as though your nightmares are from your past, so you should put the past behind you to…" He paused, looking for the right word.

"Expel the nightmares?" I suggested.

"Yeah" Timon said.

"How should I do that?" I asked.

"Well…Er…What's the worst time in your past that you can think of?"

"That's really going to help me forget, isn't it?"

"No, no, imagine it in a different way, a better way" Timon countered.

I stopped and thought. How could I make the death of my daughter into a better light? Even saying that in my head sounding ludicrous, so imagining it would be almost impossible.

_"__Hey, Dad" My daughter called._

_"__Hello, love" I said, nuzzling her "It's time" I sighed._

_"__I'm sorry that I have to go Dad, but…I really love him you know?"_

_"__I know, go on" I said, looking over at Tamu's future mate, Tayari. The lion was a dusty-gold with a dark brown, almost black, mane._

_"__Goodbye Dad, I love you" Tamu said, licking my cheek as a kiss. I smile at her and Zira walks over and stands at my shoulder as our daughter walks away with Tayari, their tails entwined._

I open my eyes and sigh, Tayari was Tamu's boyfriend and they planned to leave for Tayari's Pride on the day that she died. Tayari was crushed when I told him that his mate-to-be was dead.

I look up at the trio of animals before me "I think I'll have to work on that" I said.

Rafiki looked at me curiously, mainly at my eyes. I looked away from him "It didn't work at all, did it, Majuto?"

I shake my head silently.

Rafiki sighs "I would suggest trying to forget your past, to stop worrying about it"

Completely forgetting myself, I snap out "Forget the death of my daughter?!"

The whole atmosphere dropped as soon as I mentioned a daughter. The silence was deafening.

"You had a daughter?" Pumbaa said, tilting his head.

I looked away and at the floor "Yes" I mutter.

Even Rafiki was shocked, only he knew my true identity and only he was around in my reign as king. But he had never seen my daughter.

"But let's not worry about that, it's in the past, I'll have to put it behind me, won't I?" I said, lifting my head and smirking.


	8. Take Certain Duties on Board

The next day, I opened my eyes blearily, lifting my head off of my crossed paws, a yawn parting my jaws from the aftermath of sleep. I couldn't remember any kind of dream, but my paws were tense and my black claws were pressed into the wood of the floor. Nerves gathering in my stomach, I pried my claws out of the floor and flexed them. This had happened before, when I was in the Pride Rock cave on my own, the day I had hit Sarabi.

Everything had felt worse than it had really been, I had tried to keep it under control, but when Sarabi had mentioned Mufasa, everything came crashing about my ears and all control I had was smashed into smithereens.

"Scar, are you alright?" Rafiki spoke up from behind me.

I flinched as I heard his voice, cutting across my train of thought and sat up "Fine" I said.

Rafiki put his hand on my shoulder "Sc-" He started.

But I cut him off with the worst thing I could have done: I swung around with my paw raised and slammed it into him "**I AM TEN TIMES THE KI**-" But then I cut myself off as I saw Rafiki knocked off his feet and flat on his back. I backed away and pressed against the wall behind me.

Rafiki sat up and stared at me, incredulously "Scar…What…Why?" He seemed winded and unable to speak properly.

"I…I don't know…" My breathing was ragged and panicky. What was happening to me?

Rafiki stood up and started to walk towards me "It's fine, you're ok" He soothed, his hands up in front of him as if to calm me down.

I scrambled away from him "Stay away from me…I'm a monster" I whispered just loud enough for him to hear, I sat down and looked at the ground.

But Rafiki had never really been one to obey what I said "Now come on, don't be silly" He said, walking towards me.

"Please, just **STAY AWAY FROM ME!**" I yelled at him, finally snapping. Again…But still, he was walking towards me. This time he succeeded with putting one hand on the right side of my neck and the other on the top of my neck, I just sat there and let him hug me. Wait…What? I looked up and tilted my head at him, his head was resting on my chest and he was squeezing me tight.

He didn't let go for quite a while and it was making me uncomfortable, but I raised my left paw and wrapped it around him, so I was hugging him back. Slowly, my heart was softening and my shoulders relaxed. Rafiki pulled back and looked me in the eye. I pulled back, dropping my paw to the ground "That was…Awkward" I said, lowering my head to groom my right paw.

"Ah, but you cannot deny that it helped, can you?" Rafiki said, raising one eyebrow and ruffling the top of my head.

I shake my head and lift it up out of his reach "If you say so" I said. Nobody had ever hugged me before, apart from my mother, but even that hadn't been very often. And to be hugged by a monkey…My life was just getting stranger and stranger.

"I'm going for a walk, clear my head" I said, standing up and padding towards the entrance. I looked back and Rafiki nodded his head once. I nodded back at him and jumped down the rocks.

* * *

I padded along a riverbed; I had played here with Mufasa a long time ago when we were cubs. I stopped at the little patch of land where there was a circle with no grass in it. I stared at the dirt patch, envisioning two cubs, one golden with a red tuft of mane on his head and a dusty brown one with a black tuft of fur on his head, playing together, leaping at each other and tumbling over and over until the dusty brown one was on top and pinned the gold one down. I sighed and sat down, imagining what life could have been if I had never met the hyenas or grown so jealous of my brother. Maybe I and Mufasa could still be the happy cubs that were playing like that so long ago.

I blinked and saw an auburn coloured cub with a tuft of brown mane on his head and a pale yellow female cub appeared in front of me, playing together, albeit half-heartedly, the auburn cub was sitting looking at the female with confusion as she jumped around him, trying to engage him in a game of tag. I almost let out a scream of fright; I thought that the cubs I had envisioned had come to life! But it was a male and _female_, not two males.

I watched them with interest; the auburn cub looked so much like Kovu. From where I sat, I could smell the cubs quite well, and it seemed that Kovu's scent was coming from the auburn cub. It was Kovu, my how he'd grown, and I hadn't been there to see it. The two cubs ran off to the river behind me, but they ran to the place where the crocodiles loved to bathe.

I stood up and followed. The female cub and Kovu climbed up a log, the crocodiles circled beneath them, but the cubs didn't notice. But then, the female cub jumped onto the rock that the log was resting on and then it wobbled and Kovu slipped, hanging on with his claws. The crocodiles took this as an opportunity and snapped at his ankles.

Kovu was slipping down and completely lost his grip and jumped on a crocodile and then onto a rock that could buy him some time. I watched from the bank, waiting for the right time. Kovu's ears flattened as he looked up at a crocodile that was opening its jaws to snap him up.

I leapt from the bank and onto another rock that would allow me to get to Kovu quicker. Then, leapt onto the crocodile's jaws, grabbed Kovu's scruff and jumped back onto the log, clawing my way onto it. I walked along it and placed Kovu on the ground next to the female cub and went to walk away.

"Wait" Kovu said, I turned, looking at Kovu with an expression that told him that he didn't come top of my priorities at the minute "Who are you?" He asked, his ears pinning back in fright.

"That's none of your concern" I said, turning back to walk away.

"Thank you" I heard, I flicked my ears back to listen to him, and I turned my head slightly to the right, to reveal my muzzle to him.

"You're welcome, young one" I said and walked away. I could feel their eyes on my back and I smiled to myself, I had held my son again. I wasn't far away, only about two or three tail lengths, when I heard a roar. I turned my head back and saw Simba and Zira, roaring at each other. I decide to walk away, I don't want to be around if the claws are unsheathed.

I wonder if I should return to Rafiki, but I wanted to be out in the open for a little longer. Maybe if I went to the little pond again, I could kill some time. Or maybe I could find a place of my own. I looked around; I wanted to be someplace high up, to feel the wind in my mane and whiskers, ruffling my fur and whipping my chin fur.

I walked on, the grass prickling my paw pads. The sky was a bright blue, the clouds strolling across it slowly. I relished in the feeling of being alive, the hyena attack had made me take nothing more for granted, because you could gain something so quickly and lose it just as fast. Like my reign as king, I gained it quickly and lost it quicker.

I found a sloping hill and climbed it, sitting at the top; the hill overlooked Pride Rock, the wind whipped through my mane, strands of hair tapping my face, ruffling my fur and whiskers. I watched the lionesses milling about; a few went hunting, while another few went in a cave to sleep. I looked over at the river that I had saved Kovu from; Simba was walking back to Pride Rock, his cub dangling from his jaws, while Zira was walking back to the Outlands, holding Kovu by his scruff. I wondered about the conversation between them. I chuckled to myself and walked down the hill, and back to Rafiki's tree.

It didn't take long, surprisingly; I thought I had walked quite a long way. But when I got there, I climbed the rocks and walked into the tree; I flopped down on my grass bed and looked around for Rafiki. I saw him standing at his painting wall, but I couldn't see what he was painting. He had three bowls around him and I could see the colours they were filled with: The first was brown coloured paste, another was filled with cream coloured paste and the last was filled with black coloured paste. I stood up and walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. He was painting a lion, a dusty brown lion with a black mane, sitting with his head high and his back straight, a deadly calm expression on his face. Rafiki added the cream to his muzzle, chest and paw tips "You're intrigued as to who it is, aren't you?" He said.

"Yes" I said.

Rafiki got up and leapt into the branches of his tree, taking a coconut bowl, and disappeared for a few minutes, meanwhile I peered closer at the lion, he certainly looked familiar. Rafiki came back with the bowl filled with pale pink paste. He smeared a line over the lion's right eye, a scar. Then he added two scars on the bridge of his nose. It was me! But, Rafiki didn't add any more scars that could be seen from the angle he had drawn.

"Why have you drawn me?" I ask him.

"I draw everything that is dear to me, I consider you family now" Rafiki smiles at me.

"You consider me family?" I ask.

"Of course I do, you've been here for a long time" He gestured for me to follow him, he led me to a painting that portrayed me, Pumbaa and Timon during the Hakuna Matata music session, Timon on my nose and Pumbaa standing a little further away from us.

"You've drawn all of this? Why have-" Rafiki cuts me off.

"You'll spend your life saying 'why'" Rafiki scolded.

"Sorry" I shrug.

"Spend less time asking why and spend more time living, you don't have long on this earth you know"

I wince "I know" I said.

Rafiki sighed "You really have to let that go, you know, live for now, not for then"

I furrowed my brow "Who needs Timon and Pumbaa when you've got wisdom like that?" I said, smirking.

"We need Timon and Pumbaa to like you, because if and when everyone finds out who you really are, we need someone to stick by you" Rafiki said.


	9. Do Lighten Up

I sit in front of the painting that Rafiki drew yesterday. Looking at the painting's calm expression frightened me; it was serious and emotionless. I didn't understand why Rafiki had…Actually, I understood perfectly; because this is how I was with Rafiki, I didn't show off my emotions in front of anyone. I look at the floor, and sigh, Rafiki only saw my emotions when I thought he wasn't looking. Like when I had woken up from my nightmare and sang to myself. I really was a mess at the minute, shaken up from the hyena attack and trying not to let anyone recognise me.

I stand and pace up and down, from the entrance back to the painting, up and down, up and down. I felt that all my pent up anger could be used up by pacing. But it seemed that the movement in my legs made the movement in my brain hyperactive. Thoughts ran riot around my brain, thoughts that aggravated me and made my claws unsheathe even further so that the tips were touching the floor.

My teeth bared and I let out a furious snarl. I walked over to the entrance and walked out of the tree and down to the pond where I had seen Mufasa's ghost and then walked into the huge expanse of grassy meadow and looked up at the gathering clouds in the night sky "You said you would always protect me!" I yelled furiously "You said you would always be my brother!" My shoulders sagged and my whole body slumped "But you're not…And it's because of me, it's my fault you're not here to be my brother" I said, a tear running down my cheek, to my chin and dripping off a strand of my chin fur "I'm sorry" I said "I wish I could bring you back, but I can't"

With a huge sigh, I flop onto the ground and put my paw over my eyes, why hadn't I just given in and died at the hyena attack? I removed my paw from my eyes and put it over the other paw as I thought about the answer. I was afraid of death, if there was nothing else that I was afraid of and left only one thing, the fear of death would be left. I didn't like the idea of what would actually happen when you died, did it hurt? Or was it just like falling into a deep sleep?

A shudder racked my body as I thought about it. I tried to remove all thoughts from my mind by closing my eyes and breathing deeply. I stand up and walk back to Rafiki's tree. I climb up the rocks and flop back down on my grass bed and roll onto my back, closing my eyes.

_Mufasa stood tall, the background behind him was just clouds that hadn't got much texture to them, Mufasa was surrounded by a golden glow and he had a calming presence about him. He smiled "Scar, I accept your apology, it isn't just your fault" He said "Ahadi neglected you when you needed him most, he ignored you and the attention that you should have had was given to me" He sighed "Your acts of evil were out of jealously and anger at me, Ahadi and Simba. I just wish that you and I could have acted more like brothers instead of a king and his subject"_

Blearily, I blink open my eyes; during the night, I moved onto my side. I raise my head, thinking about the very short dream I just had, it was neither a nightmare nor a good dream. The strangest thing about it was that it seemed to have come directly from Mufasa himself. Maybe Rafiki would know something about it, seeing as he was the shaman of the Pridelands.

I stood up and stretched, going down on my front legs and stretching my body backwards. The bones in my back, elbows, hocks and toes cracked and made me wince, it wasn't the fact that there was any pain, the noise was just sickening. I stood up and yawned, my jaw bones cracking too, I frowned; my bones seemed to be cracking too much, maybe it was my age or maybe I had slept in an awkward position.

I look around for Rafiki, looking at his bed first, then the painting wall and lastly look under a few low hanging branches that obscured areas behind them. But he wasn't in any of the places I looked, I picked up his scent, but it was stale and from a few hours ago. He must have gone off somewhere.

"Hey, kid!" I hear from behind me.

I turn "Hello, Timon. Hello, Pumbaa" I said, smiling at the meerkat on the warthog's head "Either of you seen Rafiki around?"

"He's off on official Pridelands Duty, he'll be back at sun set, but meanwhile" Timon paused for dramatic effect "We're Majuto-Sitting!" The meerkat concluded, spreading his arms in self-pride.

"Great" I said, dragging out the word as sarcastically as I can.

Pumbaa's body sagged a bit "So, you don't want us here?"

"Oh, Pumbaa, you worry too much, of course I want you here" I said, smiling at him "You know how sarcastic I am"

"Well, yeah, I do" Pumbaa said, perking up.

"So, you're here to do what?" I asked "As long as there's no musical numbers, I don't mind" I added, hastily.

Timon thought for a moment "We could…" He looked out of the entrance at the sky "I know what we'll do" He said and whispered something in Pumbaa's ear. Pumbaa nodded "Let's go then" The meerkat said. Pumbaa turned and walked out of the tree.

I followed them, my stride long and confident "Where are we going?" I ask.

"You'll see" Timon said.

We walked through a forest, Timon and Pumbaa getting through easily, while I had to push myself through with a bit more force than the Duo. The branches seemed to close themselves up as I appeared; even the trees had something against me.

Finally, Timon and Pumbaa stopped in front of a low hanging branch that I couldn't see behind, Pumbaa nudged up the branch and in front of me was a towering mountain and lakes, trees reaching up to the sky "We call this 'Paradise', or 'Our Humble Abode'" Timon spoke up.

"You live here?" I asked.

"Well, we used to, we live more at Pride Rock nowadays" Timon said.

"Oh, why's that?"

"Have you met Simba?" Pumbaa asked.

I nodded.

"We raised him here" Timon said "All the way up until he went back to Pride Rock and battled with his crazy Uncle Scar"

"Crazy Uncle?" I asked.

"Yeah, he was nuts, mind you, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him, in fact…" Timon paused as he mulled something over "You remind me of him a bit"

I stiffen slightly "Why?"

"I don't know; it's probably your body shape" Timon put his paw to his chin "You know, now that I look at you properly, your coat colour is the same and your mane looks a lot like his too"

"And you're implying what?" I said.

"I'm not _implying_ anything! All I'm saying is that you look a lot like him" Timon said, shrugging.

"Well, this Scar guy sounds like a nut job, so forgive me for getting a bit defensive" I snap.

Timon put his hands up "Alright, alright, sorry" He said, sighing "Come on, we'll show you around" He said, jumping off Pumbaa's head and leading the both of us into 'Paradise'.

The scenery was grand. The trees were taller than Pride Rock and Timon paused and looked at my claws, then up into a tree "Show us how far you can climb, eh, Majuto?" He challenged.

I raise an eyebrow and smirk "Well, what's in it for me?" I said.

"Um…We'll teach you anything you want to know" Timon said.

"How about teaching me how to jump from vine to vine?" I said, looking up at long dangling vines above us.

"Sure!" Pumbaa speaks up, eagerly.

"Wait, what, I didn't agree to…" Timon flusters "Oh fine" He said, throwing his hands up in defeat.

I step back a couple of paces and crouch into a jumping position, then leap at the tree. I dig my claws into the bark and climb my way up, jumping onto a couple of branches to catch my breath, I go as high as I dare and look down at Timon and Pumbaa "High enough?" I call down to them, they nod and I look straight ahead of me, a vine dangles a couple of metres from my nose, I crouch into a jumping position.

"**NO!**" The Duo yells up at me.

I ignore them and leap for the branch, snapping it up in my jaws and swinging round in a circle, then leap for the next one and snap my jaws around it, I swing towards a sloping hill and launch myself at it, I land in the middle of it and start to slide down, I jump in the air and turn around, landing on the hill again and sliding down towards the Duo, laughing merrily.

I stop in front of the pair, both of their mouths hanging open, I put my paw under Pumbaa's chin and lift it up to close his jaws. Then I do the same to Timon, but only with my claw "Well, that was fun" I said.

"Not for **US!**" Timon yelled, my ears pinning back "You nearly gave us a **HEART ATTACK!**"

Pumbaa looks from Timon to me "He's right you know, it was a pretty stupid thing to do, you don't even know how seriously you could have been injured" He said.

"Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" I said "Not a scratch on me; is there?"

"No, but-" I cut Pumbaa off.

"Oh, leave it, let's just continue" I said. Timon shrugs and leads us on.

"We're teaching you how to swing from vines after that, but we're going to teach you over the lake" Timon said. He walked on and I followed him, Pumbaa walked next to me.

It didn't take long, but when we got to the lake, I looked at the vast expanse of glittering water and then up at the cluster of vines above it. Timon leads us up to a higher level of ground.

"Ok, so, you've got to judge the distance just right" Timon said, standing at the very edge of the high ground and readying himself for the jump "Watch carefully" He said, then leapt off the ground and towards the first vine, he clutched onto it and swung himself in a circle and leapt towards the next vine and kept going until he reached the other side of the lake "Now you try" He called over to me.

I leapt for the vine, my jaws opening wide and snapping them a round the vine, I swung in a circle and leapt towards the next vine, swinging round and leaping towards the next vine, which was one vine in a loop. I didn't judge the distance very well and leapt too early, I started to plummet towards the water, I threw out my paws, hoping to catch onto something, my left paw caught the looped vine, leaving me suspended in the air.

There was no way I would get out of this without getting wet, so I let myself fall and splash into the lake. I sink under the water for a few seconds and then surface, taking in deep breaths, kicking my legs to keep myself above the surface and gulping in oxygen instead of water. Luckily, I was gifted in swimming and kicked my way to the bank. I shake myself off, my mane frizzing out a little, but then returning to its natural, flat state with an added thickness.

I look up at Timon "I meant to do that! It was getting a little warm and I needed a dip" I called up to him. Timon laughs and disappears and a few minutes later he appeared at my side "Shall we go do one of my favourite activities?" He asked, pointing at the sky. It was dark and stars were splattered over it.

I nod and follow him; Pumbaa joined us as we walked to the slope of the higher ground. We walked out into the same meadow where I had seen Mufasa's ghost. Timon and Pumbaa lay down on the grass on their backs with their heads together. I cottoned on that they wanted me to lay down with them. I lie down on my back and look up at the sky, I hear Timon sigh in relaxation "This is great, huh?" He said.

"Yeah, hey, Majuto, do you know anything about constellations?" Pumbaa said.

"Kind of, I know that one up there is…Leo" I point to the said formation of stars "That one is Aquila and that one is Lupus, over there is Aries and there is Canis Major and Canis Minor" I point out each individual constellations. Their names slip out of my mind and into my speech as fluently as a waterfall. I list more constellations than I knew I could remember.

"And that one there is Monoceros and lastly, that one is Pegasus" I point out the last two and let my paw drop back onto my chest.

"Wow, that's amazing" Pumbaa said "How long did it take you to learn all of that?"

"Not long really, I grew up with the constellations, my mother taught me all of them, but most of them have slipped from my memory, those are the ones with the really long names like…" I racked my brain thinking of one "Camelopardalis, I can't find that one; I've forgotten what it looks like"

"Oh" Pumbaa said.

We lay in silence for a while, until Timon speaks up "Simba once told us that the stars are the Great Kings of the past looking down on us" He said "What do you think?"

"I was told that too, by my mother, but I never really…Cared for it that much" I said, with a sigh "I never had a very good relationship with my father…That's why I'm called Majuto, he regretted that I was ever born" My voice broke.

I almost wished that my name really was 'Majuto' instead of 'Taka'. It was a little more endearing that being called 'Dirt' or 'Garbage'. I would rather be called 'Regret'. But my father never wanted me, so he named me after what he thought I was. I blinked the tears away from my eyes.

"Aw, Majuto, please don't get upset" Pumbaa said, he seemed to sense that I was in a bad place "As we said before: You've got to put the past behind you"

"It's never…It's never really affected me that much…I just, I don't know…The nightmares, I think, have just been getting too much" I said, struggling to stop the sobs from entering my speech.

"Come on, let's get back to Rafiki's tree" Timon said "He'll be having a panic attack, wondering where we are"

I rolled onto my front, stood up and shook out my fur, Timon and Pumbaa walked side by side with me as we traipsed back to Rafiki's tree. We shared idle chit-chat on the way and the conversation turned to Rafiki.

"He's a little protective, I mean, he doesn't like me to go hunting very much, but he still lets me" I said "I keep thinking that he…He had a family member or a friend that went out somewhere and probably never came back" I shrugged "But, I don't know, he's not overly showy with his past"

Timon climbed up my leg and clambered onto my shoulder blades, then climbed up my mane and onto the top of my head "We can't really have a say, we don't know him all that well" He said.

Pumbaa stopped in front of the rocks that led up to Rafiki's tree "Well, we've got you home, we'll see you soon, Majuto" He said.

"See you, kid" Timon said, ruffling the top of my head, where he sat, then jumped onto Pumbaa's back and the pair trotted off.

"Bye" I called after them, then climbed the rocks and stepped into the entrance, I looked around for Rafiki and found him on his grass bed, fast asleep. I smile slightly and step onto my own grass bed, lay down and cross my paws. I lay my jugular on my paws and close my eyes.


	10. Sensational News

A year passed, and Rafiki was a lot less protective over me and let me go out for as long as I pleased each and every day. Timon and Pumbaa often came with me and we went to 'Paradise' every time that they did, the other times that they didn't, I would just hunt or go on a walk.

One such walk, I wandered into the Pridelands and sat down a few miles away from Pride Rock, overlooking a waterhole. I stiffened as I saw Simba walk down for a drink, I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye and looked over, a lion that I recognised instantly as a grown Kovu was crouching down, his claws unsheathed, looking as though he was getting ready to attack. I looked at Simba, then back to Kovu, then back to Simba again.

I snarled and pounced at my son, rolling him over and pinning him down on his back, he looked up at me, shocked, I snarled down at him "Who are you?" He said, blinking.

"Again, that is none of your concern, but the real question is: What are you doing?" I growl.

"What's it to you?" Kovu bared his teeth at me.

"You will not kill the king, I know someone that tried that once and it didn't end well for him"

"Who said I was trying to kill him?" Kovu said "Why are you here? You don't look like a Pridelander"

I ignored his questions and put my paw on his throat, he coughed and struggled, trying to breath properly "Tell me why you're here and I'll let you go" I said, flicking my eyes up at the waterhole to see that Simba had disappeared, then looked back at Kovu.

"I was raised here" Kovu said.

"No you weren't, you're an Outlander, and you're Zira's son" I said.

"How do you-?" I cut him off by pushing down on his throat a little more.

"Answer me with the truth" I said.

"Fine, Zira has sent me here to kill Simba, to avenge my father, Scar" Kovu said "If I fail, she will declare war on the Pridelanders and all of the Outlanders will take part in the fight"

"What?" I said, my voice quiet "Go" I said, getting off him.

Kovu gets up, shakes his fur and runs off. I back away, my stomach and thoughts churning. I couldn't just let Zira attack the Pridelanders with no warning, could I? I pace, my thoughts carrying me into a different time lapse. Suddenly a weight knocked me off my paws and onto my side, pressing down on my shoulder, keeping me on the floor.

I look up, a sardonic smile spread across my lips "Hello again, Simba" I said, smoothly.

"Majuto, what are you doing here?" Simba growled.

"I was on a walk, I just happened to wander into the Pridelands" I lift an eyebrow, slightly.

"So what was up with the pacing?"

"If you'd had the day I'd had, you'd be pacing too" I said "Now, let me up"

Simba huffs and gets off of me "I don't want to see you around here again, alright?"

"Fine" I said, getting up and shaking my fur, I start to walk away from him.

"Don't turn your back on me, Majuto!" Simba snarls.

I take a sharp intake of breath through my nose; Simba, unknowingly, just returned me to the day when Mufasa visited me for not showing up at my nephew's ceremony.

I look over my shoulder "Oh, no, Simba, perhaps _you _shouldn't turn your back on _me_" I said, without thinking.

Simba roars and bounds in front of me "Is that a challenge?" He growls.

"Temper, temper" I said, and then snap out of my flash from the past, I clear my throat "So much like your father" I said.

Simba jerks back, his face contorting into one of shock and confusion "You knew my father?"

"Oh yes, we were childhood friends, I never saw him again after we grew up, I was exiled you see, I heard that he was dead from some birds that were looking for food in my local area" I sighed "Shame really, he was a decent guy"

Simba sneered "Why were you exiled?"

"That's none of your business" I said "Now, I must be off" I turned and walked away from him, no longer thinking about my memories – made up or not. I was thinking about the news that Kovu had given me of Zira's planned attack. I walked back to Rafiki's tree, my feet moving faster than I could think about, I was confused; why would Zira want to attack the Pridelanders? I understood that was probably upset about my supposed death and angry about her exile, but she wouldn't dare attack a whole Pride, would she?

I stopped where I was and looked over in the direction of the Outlands, should I? Well, it's all experience, isn't it?

I start to trot in the direction of the place that I called home for many years of my youth. I slowed as the blackish grey dust, characteristic of the Outlands, drifted over my paws and tangled itself in my mane. I lowered my head and placed a paw over the border and into the Outlands; dust sprang up from my footfall and wafted around in the air. I kept walking, my chin fur tickling the ground, I looked at leafless trees and the ghostly white bones of long dead animals, the meat picked clean by either the lions that lived here, the hyenas or the vultures. My head rose up as I saw a tall cave that had turrets, recognisable as Zira's cave.

I prowl silently near to the entrance and listen in on the conversation, I heard Zira chuckle "Ah, Scar, we shall avenge your death" She said, I smelt the air inside the cave, it seemed she was on her own "Simba shall pay for his heinous crime in killing my love, Kovu will kill him or we will attack him in his own home" She chuckled darkly.

I swallowed; I couldn't quite believe that this whole war was for me. I smile to myself as an idea enters my head. My ears flick back as I hear the rattling of bones that signal the arrival of other lionesses. I jump up on the cave and climb to the top, there is a hole that I can look through and see what is happening in the cave.

Inside, Zira was ordering the lionesses of what would happen if Kovu failed their plain to kill Simba. They would sneak into the Pridelands through the lake to cover their tracks and scent, then attack Simba and his lionesses as they were sleeping. I swallowed again, for such a simple plan, it was diabolical; to attack someone while they were unaware and unable to defend themselves was almost ignoble.

I take a deep breath and put my muzzle close to my peephole "I know that your levels of intelligence" My voice booms down into the cave "Are as high as the clouds in the sky" I smile "But smart as you are, pay attention! My words are a matter of fate"

"What's going on? Who is speaking to us?" Zira yells.

I ignore her angry demands and carry on "It's clear from the blood lust in your eyes, that revenge is imminent in your minds" My voice is sweet, yet intimidating "But we're talking battles and deaths, even you can't be caught unawares!" I belt the words out with as much aggression as I can "So prepare for the advice of a lifetime, be prepared for sensational news: A revengeful battle is tiptoeing nearer"

"And where do we feature?" Zira yells.

This was too perfect "Just listen to teacher" I said in a gooey voice. I squeeze though the hole and land on a rock, the sun framing my scrawny body.

"Scar" Zira cries out.

I sit down, facing them "Sadly not" I said, jumping off the rocks and landing in front of them "I am Majuto and I am here to tell you that your battle against Simba and the Pride will not work, what happened to Scar? He was killed by his own minions, Zira; the same thing may happen to you" I hold my head high as the lionesses standing around growl and snarl at me "All I am saying is, think about this carefully and your life will not be put in danger" I said, then turn and leap back up on the rock and climb back through the hole.

I climb down the cave and lope out of the Outlands; I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, I loped back to Rafiki's tree and climbed the rocks, I flopped down on my grass bed and closed my eyes. I tried to focus on what I would do next; I had done an incredibly stupid thing, going over to the Outlands and talking to Zira like that was incredibly idiotic. I have put myself into something that I could be killed for.

And now, I found myself wondering if I should be returning to Pride Rock to tell the Pridelanders about the upcoming battle. I stand up and pace, thoughts running over time. Should I return? Simba had told me that he didn't want to see me around there anymore, but was I really going to listen to him? I wasn't part of his kingdom; I was my own spirit, free and didn't take notice of anyone. But if I didn't return, Zira would most probably kill Simba. This was taxing; I lie back down on my grass bed and put my paws on my head, closing my eyes.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, I opened my eyes and looked up, taking my paws off my head "Rafiki, I need to talk to you about something" I said.


	11. Anything But This

"I don't know" Rafiki said "I really don't know; if you returned and told Simba, it would play to their strengths and advantages, but it could play back on you, your life could be put in danger because of it, especially if the lion you heard it from was giving you false information" Rafiki paused "But if you don't, you're safe, but Simba loses the advantage" He sighed "It's up to you, what would you rather do?"

"I would rather tell them…But, I just…Don't want to die" I said.

"Remember what Timon and Pumbaa taught you: Put your past behind you" Rafiki said.

"But remember what _you_ taught me" I said "You can either run from your past or learn from it"

Rafiki smiled "So what are you going to do?"

I thought for a while "I'm going back" I said, standing up. I started to walk over to the entrance, but stopped as my toes crossed over the ledge, I stood there, my toes curled over the end of the floor. I stared at two swallows flitted around in the sky, they flew side by side and I sat down, my gaze moving to the silhouette of Pride Rock.

I closed my eyes and listened to my surroundings; bird song leaked into my ears and flies buzzed around my head, at which I flicked at them with my song-filled ears and snapped my jaws at them. The wind rustled the leaves around me and the sun beat down on my fur. I open my eyes and sigh; I really wasn't as welcoming for death as I thought I was.

I turn my head over my shoulder and look at Rafiki, the monkey sat where I left him, his expression sad and sympathetic "Scar, you don't have to return today if you don't want to" He said.

I sigh and look back at Pride Rock "Tomorrow" I said, my shoulders slumping slightly. I stand up and walk over to my grass bed and flop down. I hadn't told Rafiki that I had gone to the Outlands and confronted Zira and her lionesses. I lay my head on the ground, my paws either side of my cheeks, a deep exhale of air coming from my nose. I stare at the ground in front of me, lost in my thoughts.

Would I really have enough courage to return to Pride Rock and tell them the news? How would I tell them? I couldn't exactly just say "Zira and the Outlanders are going to kill you all" albeit, I could say it much better than that, but that was me being me. Maybe I should just wait and gather more information until I actually told the Pride and its king. If I was killed – in either the war or because I ended up giving false information – then so be it, I do believe that at the time when I was faced with death, I would be ready. My claws, reflexively, unsheathed to their maximum length, around the length that they had been extended to at Mufasa's murder. A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about it, how I wished that I had never pulled him off the cliff. This whole fiasco would have never happened; I would never have destroyed the Pridelands like I had, I would have never received all my scars, the hyenas would still be on my side, Simba would still be my nephew and Mufasa would still be my brother.

I raise my head and looked at my claws; the tips were digging into the wood of the tree, I bared my teeth and dragged my right paw back, leaving deep scratch marks with splinters framing the cuts. I flicked my claws out of the floor, curling my paw towards the underside of my leg, splinters flying towards the wall behind me. A snarl erupts from my throat with frightening force, suddenly I see red and I jump to my feet and leap at the wall, slamming my claws into the wood, dragging them down and leaving gashes in them like I had done with the floor.

All I was aware of was the pressure in my claws, the rage in my heart, the clenching of my jaw and the tears rolling down my cheeks. I flick my claws out of the wall, pressing my forehead into my right paw, sobbing enough tears to fill the Nile. I cried all the tears that I had never cried for the deaths of everyone I had ever lost in the past; Uru, Ahadi, Mufasa, Banzai, Ed. I felt as though I had just hit rock bottom and I slumped myself down and wiped the tears away with my paw.

So much had changed since my cubhood, Mufasa and I had grown distant and I took every opportunity to cause an argument, I had never forgiven him for taking my place in the hierarchy of Pride Rock and my father's heart. I suppose that was what it was all about really; Mufasa getting all the attention and love from my father, while all I got from him was a name that meant 'Garbage' and a scar on my eye. Actually, the latter option of that sentence was only partly true; the hyenas gave me the scar, but my father agreed to let me have it in the first place. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed's mother, whose name was Chuki, spoke to Ahadi, who came into the Elephant Graveyard to find me, Chuki told Ahadi of the situation and my father nodded his head when the hyena informed him of my punishment.

I sighed with frustration and thought about the hyena's claw ripping open the skin on my eye, even though my pain scale had rocketed through the roof of the cave, I was glad I had received that scar, because it had shown me who I was. And then I looked at the scars on my leg and my smile faded, these other scars had shown me that I shouldn't have returned to the hyenas, Ahadi was right and I shouldn't have made a promise that I couldn't keep, especially to the hyenas of all species.

"Scar…Scar…Scar!" A voice started to penetrate through my foggy mind, bringing me back to my senses.

"What!" I cried, turning my head over my shoulder.

"You realise you've made a right mess of my home?" Rafiki said, crossing his arms.

I looked back at the wall and cringed at the sight of the claw marks in it, splinters spiking out of the sides, I looked back at Rafiki "Sorry…" I said.

"I can fix it, don't worry" He walked over to me and sat down at my shoulder "What's the matter, Scar? You're never usually like this, scratching at the wall isn't your day to day activity"

"Everything is mounting up against me and I can't take it anymore, I need to throw myself off a cliff" I said.

"Don't talk like that; you're suffering the early stages of grief and guilt"

I sighed "Really, you know a lot of lions that have murdered their own brother, do you?" I asked, sarcastically.

"You are grieving for your brother, you have realised the error of your ways"

"It's not much fun though"

"Nothing is ever fun"

"Playing with my brother was fun"

"You see? You are grieving; you are acting as though nothing will ever be the same again, but it will, you'll happy again, one day"


	12. This Looks Familiar

Early the next morning, I blinked open my eyes wearily. I watched the sun rise, nerves gathered in the pit of my stomach. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could keep a meal down. I planned to return to Pride Rock and ask for a place in the Pride, until I could gather more information, I wouldn't tell anyone of what I knew or thought I knew.

I stood up and looked over at Rafiki, already sitting up and watching me, I walked over to him and put my left paw around him and pulled him into my chest, holding in the tears. I didn't know whether I would ever see him again. I pressed the side of my muzzle into the back of the monkey's head, Rafiki put his hands on the back of my neck and hugged me back, and it was just the same as it was after I had knocked him to the ground, but this time I didn't feel awkward or forced into it, I felt comfortable. Both of us knew that we shared a friendship that could never be broken.

I dropped my paw to the ground and pulled back "Goodbye Rafiki, thank you for everything that you've done for me" I said.

Rafiki reached up and ruffled the top of my mane "You're welcome Scar, remember you're always welcome back here"

"I can't come back" I said, brushing my ruffled mane back to its normal state "I will have joined Simba's pride and I won't leave Pride Rock to come back here. I'm on detective work, I have to find out more about Zira and her plan" I said the last sentence in a low voice.

Rafiki nodded slowly "Alright, I will see you whenever I visit Pride Rock" He said.

I nodded and turned towards the entrance and walked towards it, I again stopped when my toes crossed over the ledge and hesitated, but certainly not for long, I stepped forward and hopped down the rocks. As my paws landed on the sandy landscape of the savannah, I looked back at the tree and smiled. I turned my head back in front of me and took a deep breath and exhaled with the first of many steps I took.

It seemed to take me forever and a day to reach the Pridelands. I returned the gazes of the lionesses and stood tall as Nala approached me "Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Majuto and I-" I was cut off by a ferocious roar; I looked up, refraining from allowing a sardonic smile to spread across my lips.

"Why have you come back?" Simba yelled at me, jumping down from Pride Rock "I thought I told you I didn't want you around here anymore"

I dipped my head respectfully "Simba, I humbly ask to join your pride"

"NO!" Simba snapped, shoving his face into mine, causing me to pull my head back. He still made me remember the last argument that I and Mufasa had shared.

"Why do you not want me here?" I asked, lifting my head and pushing it towards my nephew slightly.

"You remind me too much of someone I knew" He growled.

"And who might that be?" I said, treating him like my baby nephew. Of course, I knew _exactly_ of whom I reminded him of, heck; I _was_ who he was talking about.

"That's none of your concern"

"Oh, I think it is, if you are comparing me to someone, I have a right to know who that is" I paused for a second "For all I know, it could be a murderer" I added, knowing that I would hit a weak spot.

Simba's lips pulled back, showing his fangs "What can the likes of _you_ offer to my Pride?"

"I can hunt, quite well surprisingly" I said "I can fight too, but of course, you already know that, seeing as I have fought off the hyenas" I add.

"Fine, join, but I'll be keeping an eye on you" Simba growled "And you will _not_ be sleeping the cave with the rest of the Pride, or eating what they catch, you will catch for both the Pride and yourself"

I shrugged "Fair enough" I said.

"And anyway, why are you here in the first place? Does Rafiki's tree not meet your requirements?"

"Rafiki's tree was perfect, but I felt as though he didn't need a perfectly healthy lion cluttering up his workspace, I no longer had a reason to be there, other than to keep Rafiki company" I said, the reason was only partly true, Rafiki had never told me this, but I knew he got a lot more work done when I was out on a walk or hunting than he did when I was in the tree.

Simba sneered "Remember what I told you about your place here"

"Of course, your majesty" I said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of my voice at the word 'majesty'. I walked off in the direction of my old cave, feeling the stares from the lionesses, most probably in shock at how I had disrespected Simba as I had. I hopped down the rocks to my old cave and stood in the entrance, cobwebs had grown in the corners and the places where the walls met the floor. The cave appeared to have never been lived in, but I could still smell faint traces of my own scent, I could even smell the mouse that I had caught just before Zazu had interrupted me. The scent on me now was still the same; hyena-ridden and more like an Outlander, but it was swamped by the scents that floated around in Rafiki's tree: Herbs, leaves, grass and Rafiki himself.

I sat down and sighed. I sensed a presence behind me and turned my head over my shoulder, a young lioness was standing in the entrance to my cave. My eyes widened slightly and I jumped to my feet, turning around in the air. This lioness looked just like Tamu around the time that she had died "Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Kiara" She said "You remind me of someone, someone that I met as a cub" She paused in thought "You were at a river and saved Kovu from the crocodiles"

"You were the female cub that was playing with the auburn kid?" I said.

"Yes, I was" Kiara said "Majuto…That means 'regret', doesn't it?"

I nodded "What of it?"

"I just thought it was rather a strange name to have, did your parents not want you?"

"My father regretted having another male cub, he already had my brother and he didn't want another son to look after" I said, shortly.

"Oh…Kovu has told me that he's already met you" Kiara said.

"Has he?" I asked, my tone was weary and uncaring, I turned away from her and walked over to the raised platform that ran along the right side of the cave, I hopped onto it and settled myself down, my tail and front paws draped over the ledge, my tail flicked subtly in agitation.

"Yes, he said you pinned him on the floor" Kiara said, thoughtfully.

I shrugged "I have my reasons" I said "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to make myself at home, but before you go" I said.

Kiara paused "Yes?" She asked.

"Do you know who lived in this cave before me?" I raise an eyebrow gracefully.

"How do you know that someone lived in here before?"

"I can smell small traces of another lion" I said.

"I don't know, you'll have to talk to Daddy about that"

"Who's your Daddy?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that a young adult lioness was still calling her father 'Daddy'.

"Simba"

"So you're a princess?" I said "I'm honoured for your company" I drawled, sarcastically.

Kiara scowled "I don't care about being a princess or a queen, it isn't important to me"

"While that's cute and all, I don't really care much for what you want or don't want" I said "Whether you want to become queen or not, you will, you're most probably betrothed to some male in the Pride, whom you will marry when you're old enough and the both of you will assume the throne" My voice was weary and bored, I inspected the claws on my right paw.

"But…" Kiara started "Daddy hasn't told me anything about a betrothal"

I shrugged "Diddums" I muttered under my breath "Well, you had better talk to him about it, hadn't you?" I said, louder so she could hear me.

Kiara's face fell "You think I'm a cub, don't you?" She said.

"My dear, I think everyone is a cub at heart" I said.

"Why?" Kiara sat down and tilted her head.

"Because I am older than most of the lions I meet; so to them, I am an old pensioner and to me, they're young cubs" I explained "And, as they say, everyone still has a bit of cub in them, however old they are"

Kiara thought for a minute and nodded "I guess"

"Now, please leave me alone" I said. Kiara nodded slowly and walked out of the cave, I plop my right paw onto my left one, lazily, and put my head on my newly crossed paws. I stared at the place where I had caught the mouse.

_My paw rose up above the mouse, the oblivious rodent cleaning its muzzle contentedly. I let my paw drop on my meagre meal. The mouse looked up at my lowering appendage and started to run off, but I slapped my paw down on him and clutched his tail between my two toes and lifted him up to my face, the rodent squirmed and struggled "Life's not fair, is it?" I said "You see I, well I…Shall never be king" I paused in thought, while the mouse wriggled out of my grasp and began to scramble across my giant paw, desperate for a way out of the danger it was in. I watched it, amused, only to be disgruntled once more as my prey found its way to the edge of my claws. The little meat pack waggled its haunches, leapt and then found itself snagged in my claws once again "And you, heh-heh, shall never see the light of another day, adieu" I said, cheering up. I opened my jaws and rolled my tongue out, lowering the mouse towards it._

_"__Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" A voice made my tongue pull back into my mouth slightly and my eyes open, I turn my head, closing my mouth and putting my paw on the ground, squashing the mouse beneath the weight of my appendage._

_I sigh with exasperation "What do you want?" I ask, lifting one side of my nose up in disgust and rolling my eyes._

_"__I'm hear to announce that King Mufasa is on his way" Zazu said, bowing, his feathers splaying out "So you'd _better_ have a good excuse for missing the ceremony this morning" He snapped, looking up at me._

_I made a face of annoyance mixed with a little sadness; again Mufasa was allowing me to have another argument with him. The mouse wiggled its way out of my grip and I watched it scurry away with a scowl "Oh, now look, Zazu" I said, playfully "You made me lose my lunch"_

_The impertinent hornbill scoffed "Ha, you'll lose more than that when the king gets through with you" He jeered, crossing his wings "He's as mad as a hippo with a hernia"_

_How I wanted to get rid of this little bird, I had wanted to since Mufasa had first found him. But I decided that maybe a clump of nerves and a bit of respect wouldn't do the bird any harm "Ooh, I quiver with __**FEAR!**__" I said, my jaws opening wide in a deadly smile and leant towards Zazu until my hot breath ruffled his feathers._

_I fell onto all four paws, crouching down, my chest brushing the floor, and crawling towards the blue bird "Now, Scar" Zazu panicked, backing away from me "Don't look at me that way" He leapt into the air, attempting to fly away "__**HELP!**__" He yelled, just before my jaws snapped shut around his feathery body._

_"__Scar" The sound of my brother's grumpy roar reached my ears. I sighed inwardly and turned to look at him, my cheeks puffed out as I struggled to keep Zazu in my jaws._

The ghosts of my past faded and I looked over at the tall stack of rocks that Mufasa had stood on and sighed, his faded figure still lingering mockingly. My eyes flicked up toward the sky, and then back down to the rocks. Nothing remained there. I turned my head and looked back at where Zazu and my own faded figure had been. I was all alone, nothing was around in my cave, the only company I had were the cobwebs on the walls and a mouse.

Wait…A mouse. I turned my head to follow the scent and my eyes pinned onto a certain furry little mouse, I chuckled darkly and reached towards it silently, I curled my paw in the air and brought it round to the back of the rodent and flicked it towards the opposite wall. I was bored and I needed something to do. Thump. The little mouse crashed into the wall and flopped onto the floor, a final puff of air coming from it and then it lay motionless. I stood up and walked over to it, fully expecting it to hop up and scurry off, but it didn't. It laid there, its beady black eyes staring up at the ceiling. I had killed it; the little mouse that had evaded me was gone.

I picked it up, cradling its tiny body in my paw, the rodent rested on the middle of my paw pad. I sat down and chucked the mouse up into the air and caught it by the tail in my toes, just as I had the first time. I lowered my jaw and rolled out my tongue, put the mouse onto it and consumed my meal. The mouse was crunched into digestible pieces and swallowed the meat, tucking the bones into a corner of my mouth so that I didn't swallow any and then spat the tiny, broken skeleton out of my mouth onto the rocky floor.

I stood up and walked back over to my ledge, hopping on top of it and laying down, facing the entrance that led to Pride Rock, crossing my paws and hanging them and my tail over the edge. I lay my chin on my paws and closed my eyes, planning on dreaming anything but nightmares.

"Majuto" A voice snapped at me. I opened on eye lazily and sighed quietly as my eyes locked onto Simba, did he ever give up?

I open my other eye and raise my head "Ah Simba, lovely to see you, and what do I owe the pleasure?" I smiled, sardonically, failing to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Simba, still not understanding sarcasm, continued as though I had never spoken "I want you to walk with me"

"Well, our relationship is taking a step in the right direction, is it not?" I said, asking a rhetorical question as I stood up and followed the younger lion out of the cave and out of the Pridelands.


	13. One Little Problem

I don't care. I don't care that Simba is king, I don't even care about _being _king anymore, I understand that I can never be good king material, and even if I was a good king, no one would accept me because I had murdered the king that everyone had come to love. My dreams were no longer set on ruling the Pridelands, all I wanted now was to survive.

Simba led me to a barren, dark, empty land. I glanced around at the burnt, dead trees, tense. Simba seemed to sense my unease and nudged my shoulder with his own, I glanced at him "What are we doing here?" I asked.

"I want to show you something" He said, revealing nothing.

"Stop treating me like a cub, I'm old enough to be your uncle" I growled.

Simba sighed "That's also what I want to talk to you about: You remind me a lot of my uncle, your body build and colour, your mane is a lot his too, limp and very black"

I ignore the slight insult about my mane being limp and sigh "I've had this all before; someone else has also compared me to your uncle…Scar?" I said, my stomach twisting.

"Yes, Scar couldn't let go of his hate and in the end it destroyed him, like he destroyed my father and the Pridelands"

"You speak about your uncle like this…But do you even know the first thing about him?" I asked.

"Yes, he murdered my-" I cut him off.

"No, look beyond that: Why did he murder your father?"

"To become king"

"And that was it? Do you even know how the relationship was between your uncle and father? There could have been a whole history that you don't know of" I said.

There was a furious growl and the next thing I knew, I was on my side, being pressed into the dirt "I knew it! Too much was similar about you and him" Simba snarled in my ear.

The game was up, Rafiki was right, disguises really _don't_ last forever. But I can play this a little more; after all I tricked the lionesses of Pride Rock into thinking that Mufasa's death was an accident. I looked up at Simba "What are you talking about? My name is Majuto and I don't know who Scar is" I said, using all of my strength to shove Simba off of me and I stand up.

"So why are you defending him?"

"I'm not!" I snarl; shoving my face in my nephew's "All I'm saying is that there is always a reason that no one sees or pays attention to behind a heinous act. I heard once that Scar was jealous of his brother; this might play a part to the reason why Scar killed Mufasa"

Simba relaxed a little, but still eyed me warily "He was in cahoots with the hyenas" He said, gravely "But they were the ones that killed him, they tore him apart and we believe that the fire burnt what was left of his body, as we found no trace of him"

'_Well actually, the monkey shaman, Rafiki took me away to his tree and I'm now standing here before you_' I think to myself, amused. However I merely said "Fire is a killer"

"Indeed, but sometimes" He said, brushing away some dirt on the ground and revealing a small green sprout "What's left behind can grow better than the generation before...If given the chance"

I looked at the sprout and my claws unsheathed a little more; this sprout was almost a metaphor of me, if I gave myself a chance, I could grow into a better lion.

A noise behind me dragged me from my thoughts and I turned my head over my shoulder, sniffing the air. Someone or something had chuckled very, very quietly.

Simba looked at me "What now?" He asked.

"Hush, something is out here" I snapped.

"Why, Simba" I heard from behind me, I whirled round, my eyes widening.

"Zira" Simba snarled, getting ready for the attack that was sure to come.

"What are you doing out here and so…Alone?" Zira looked at me, her eyes glinted with pleasure.

Simba growled, showing his fangs. I backed a little closer to him, knowing that there would be no way neither I nor Simba could fight them and survive, I kept my eyes on the lionesses as best I could.

Zira laughed, mirthlessly. The lionesses formed a circle around us and edged closer.

"Well done, Majuto" Zira said "_Just_ like we always planned"

Simba snarled and looked at me "You!" He snapped.

"No, I had nothing to do with this!" I yelled, looking from Simba to the lionesses and back.

"Attack" Zira cried, the lionesses leapt to do her bidding and jumped over the top of me onto Simba.

I swiped my paw at a few of the lionesses' legs and paws, tripping them up. I couldn't leap into the battle, as the lionesses were clamouring all over my nephew. But I could pull a few of them off him and throw them onto the floor, one of them I pinned, but what I saw stopped me in my tracks "Vitani…" I whispered.

My daughter snarled and pushed me off her and leapt back at Simba, I jump towards them, but my scrawny body was kicked away into a rock. The back of my head slammed into the stone and dazes me, blurring my vision and muffling my hearing, however my senses were intact long enough for me to see Nuka leap at Simba and send my nephew and the lionesses clinging to him tumbling down a cliff. The Outlanders jump off him and watch, I leap to my paws and run to the edge of the cliff in time to see my nephew slam into a tall rock, injure his shoulder and tumble down onto the ground below.

I slide down the cliff edge with the rest of the lionesses and jump to the ground around two or three feet from the rocky terrain beneath, gaining a head start. Simba stopped in front of a huge pile of logs and looked behind him "Go!" I yelled at him. Whether he heard me or not, Simba clambered up the logs as quick as he could. I watch in despair as Nuka gallops past me, youth always beating the elderly into the dust. I press on as fast as I can, I may not have speed, but I sure do have stamina. And heck, if I can chase down a zebra herd, then I can certainly chase down my own son and nephew.

I lengthen my stride and quicken my pace, determination etched across my features, my claws flicking up dirt as I raced towards the log pile. I climbed up the logs, just three tail lengths from Nuka, my son grabs onto Simba's ankle. My nephew struggles and kicks the younger lion off and sends him tumbling down into a place between two logs.

Simba clambers to safety and dislodges a log. I jump out of the way just as it rolls down the pile and smashes into Nuka. My eyes widen in fear "No" I whisper "My son" But I daren't go any nearer as Zira heaves her front paws up onto a log and pushes the other off, revealing Nuka, dishevelled and trembling. Vitani heaves herself up beside her mother and watches as the light fades from Nuka's body. I hold back the tears and make my way up the log pile.

"Simba, I'll get you for this!" Zira yells "If it's the last thing I do"

I shiver at her lethal promise and jump up onto the solid ground. I pant for breath and stagger into the long grass, the chase down in the pit had taken its toll on me…Badly. My legs weaken and I collapse in the dust, strands of grass towering above me. Running on an empty stomach hadn't done my body any good, even if I had eaten a mouse, not enough energy was in my meagre meal to keep me going for a whole day. I raised my head wearily, and take in my surroundings. From here, I can see the miniscule silhouette of Rafiki's tree. I sigh in relief, maybe I should spend the night there, and go back to the Pridelands tomorrow; no doubt Simba would kill me if I dared show my face.

But what I couldn't understand was why Zira had pinned the attack on me. And how did she…? I introduced myself, I was just asking for trouble. And I thought I had gotten the lion's share as far as brains went. I couldn't have been more stupid. I put my paw on my face "Idiot" I muttered. But, I couldn't dwell in the past, what I learnt from this is to never introduce myself to lions who chuckle and plan to avenge a supposed dead lion. I struggle to my paws and steady myself, I take a deep breath and step forward, heading in the direction of Rafiki's tree.


	14. Thick As You Are

The sun was setting as I staggered my way up the rocks, it had taken me most of the day to get to the tree. I had tripped and tumbled into a lake, soaking me to the skin and the cold wind had chilled me to the very marrow of my bones.

With a huff, I pushed myself into Rafiki's tree and collapsed onto my side "Scar!" Rafiki's voice trickled into my ears "What happened?" I felt his hands on my side, trying to work out what was wrong.

My breath was ragged and panting "Ambush…Zira" My vision blurred and every touch was excruciatingly painful, my fur started to feel heavy and was soon matted with sweat, even though I was shivering violently, my mouth was dry and my eyes watered, leaving a pool of dark, damp fur under my eyes; what was happening to me?

"Sshh, everything will be alright" Rafiki soothed, stroking my side, but his voice was muffled and sounded as though he was speaking from far away. He opened my jaw and put his finger on my tongue, felt my forehead and looked at my eyes "Ah, I know what's wrong" He said, in the same faraway voice "You have a fever, you'll be feeling sore for the night, but I have a medicine that can help you heal quickly" He said, and started to lift me up, I tried to help him, but it wasn't easy going on my part, in fact the poor old monkey ended up doing most of the work.

I collapsed on my grass bed on my side without much sense of how I got there. I had never had a fever or any sort of illness like this before and I was scared, I didn't know whether I could die from this or if it was just energy sapping. I closed my eyes, stretching out my head and sighed "Rafiki…Am I…?"

"No, you're not dying" Rafiki said, the sound of coconut bowls clanking together coming from near his painting wall. I was left alone with only the sound of the bowls knocking against each other, the sound of the leaves rustling around me and the birds singing. I open my eyes as I felt a bowl being pressed to my lips, Rafiki was holding a coconut bowl full of strange green mush, I lifted my head and raised an eyebrow weakly "It'll help" Rafiki said. I lowered my muzzle down to the mush and sniffed it, it smelt spicy and unlike anything I had ever smelt before. I licked a small piece off of the pile and swallowed it. It tasted like it smelt; spicy and unlike anything I had ever tasted before.

It burned the back of my throat and yet soothed the heat ravaging though my fur. I lapped up the rest of the bowl's contents and swallowed to try and quench the burning in my throat. Rafiki smiled and I shifted onto my front and lay my head on my paws. Rafiki sat down near my stomach and leant against my side; he laid his arm across my back and fiddled with the end of my mane. It was soothing and sent me drifting into a peaceful, dreamless slumber.

* * *

The next morning, I opened my eyes and instantly felt a lot better; Rafiki was fast asleep next to me, his head lying on my shoulder. I raised my head and looked at him, had he been lying there all night? If so, he must have the most horrible neck ache. I nudged my nose under his head and lifted it up and onto the floor, I needn't have bothered as he blinked open his eyes as I laid his head down. He groaned and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck "Scar?" He said, confused. His voice wasn't muffled anymore, or as faraway.

"Good morning" I said, lifting my paw and placing it on Rafiki's head in a similar fashion to how I had done with Simba. Rafiki lifted my paw off his head and stood up, he grabbed my jaw and opened my mouth, put his finger on my tongue and dropped my jaw, then checked my eyes and ran his hand down my back "That medicine has done the trick" He said "I suppose you'll be heading back to-"

I cut him off as I stood up and pulled the monkey towards me in a hug "I can't!" I cried "Simba will kill me"

"Why?" Rafiki said, hugging me back tightly and rubbing his hand up and down my back "Just tell me why and I can help, we've had this conversation before: If you don't tell me, I can't help"

I breathed deep and hard, pressing the side of my muzzle into Rafiki's head, my tears wetting his fur and skin "Hey…" Rafiki said, putting his hands on my shoulders and pushing me backwards, he reached up to my face and wiped away my tears "Stop that now, the Scar I know-"

I cut him off "Is a murderer" I said, hanging my head and looking at my paws.

Rafiki took hold of my chin and lifted my head up "I know…I know" He said with a sigh "Just tell me what happened, you mentioned an ambush yesterday"

"Simba took me down to a place where the trees and plantation hadn't grown back yet and…We spoke for a while…He almost found out that I wasn't who I said I was…But I convinced him otherwise…I heard something behind me and that's when Zira and her lionesses surrounded us and attacked. Zira blamed it on me…" I see Rafiki's expression change "But I had nothing to do with it! You know me better than that" I snapped at him a little.

"But how did Zira know your name?" Rafiki asked.

"I may have…Let slip what I was calling myself…" I said, looking away from him and rubbing my leg with my paw in embarrassment.

"Oh Scar! I thought you were smarter than that!"

"I thought so too"

"Well, you're going to have to go back and face your punishment"

"You're kidding, right? He'll _kill me_!" I cried.

But before Rafiki could speak, someone tugged on my tail and cried "Hey!" I turned my head over my shoulder.

"What are you doing here, Timon?" I said; my voice weary.

"What are _we_ doing here?" Timon laughed "The question is: What are _you_ doing here?" He snapped.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking over at Pumbaa standing at the entrance.

"_You ordered the attack on Simba!_" Timon yelled, finally losing it "_I don't know how you could be so stupid! We trusted you! We helped you! And this is how you __**REPAY US**__!?_"

"Whoa, whoa, kill the motor, Timon" I said "It wasn't my fault"

"So why is Simba saying that you're the one who organised it?" Timon snapped.

"Zira claimed that I did, but I didn't" I protested.

"So she knows your name because she can read your mind, yeah?"

"My name…Slipped out when I was talking to her" I said.

Timon sighed, calming down a little, then turned away from me and walked off, muttering curses under his breath. The meerkat hopped onto Pumbaa's head and the two trotted off back to the Pridelands.

I watched them go and looked back to Rafiki "Even they don't trust me" I said.

"Be strong" Rafiki said, putting a hand on my shoulder "Don't be ashamed to stand up for yourself"

My shoulders slumped and I looked back out of the entrance at Pride Rock.


	15. Run Run Away And Never Return

My paws were heavy as I trudged my way to the Pridelands. My head was low to the ground until I caught wafts of the Pridelanders' scent. Then I lifted my head up, carrying it high above my shoulders, the lionesses and gathered animals stared and whispered.

I stood on a ledge where I could see Pride Rock and I watched as Simba appeared "Why have you come back!?" He yelled down at me.

"I had nothing to do with-" I started.

"Shut up! When you first came here, I told you that I didn't trust you, and I was right" He declared "And today, I pass judgement…" My stomach clenched, I knew what was going to happen "**EXILE!**"

This wasn't what I expected at all. The elephants started to stomp their feet, the zebras scraped their hooves on the ground and brayed, while two antelopes stalked towards me, their heads down, horns sharp and lethal "Deception" They sang in unison. I leapt off the ledge and ran past the zebras "Disgrace"

I raced past some monkeys, who threw rocks at me "Evil as plain as the black in his mane" The zebras snapped their teeth at me "Deception" The elephants swung their tusks at my body "An outrage" Zazu pecked my head "Disgrace" More rocks were thrown at me "For shame" The antelopes swung their horns at my head "You know these Outsider types"

I skidded round a corner and a hippo bellowed out "He asked for trouble the moment he came" The ostriches formed a path and pecked at me as I passed them "See you later, agitator" Zebras kicked at me with their back feet "Deception" Lionesses snarled and swiped at me "An outrage" Birds pecked my head "Just leave us alone" More elephants swung at me "Disgrace" Antelopes formed a path and butted their heads together as I passed them "For shame" Frogs croaked "Traitor go back with your own" Snakes hissed and snapped at my paws.

The hippo bellowed out again "He asked for trouble the moment he came" Zebras snorted "See you later, agitator" Then as a whole group they sang "Born in grief, raised in hate, helpless to defy his fate, let him run, let him live. But do not forget what we cannot forgive" I paused at a stream and looked back "And he is not one of us, he has never been one of us, he is not part of us, not our kind. Someone once lied to us" At this point I looked down in the stream and saw the old me, the Scar with only one scar over his eye, a malicious look on his face, I leapt into the reflection, ran out of the stream and topped a hill "Now we're not so blind, for we knew he would do what he's done, and we know that he'll never be one of us" And with that, the group dwindled and an elephant sang "He is not one of us" An antelope cried "Deception" A zebra brayed "Disgrace" The antelope struck up again "Deception" And the zebra brayed again "Disgrace" And the antelope ended it all with "Deception"

I sighed and walked away from the Pridelands, for what felt like forever. I wasn't taking care of which way I walked; I just kept going, away from the Pridelands, away from my son, away from my nephew and away from what could have been a changed Scar.

Thoughts ravaged my brain as the heat ravaged my fur: _What could I have done? How could I make this better? Why did I ever pull my brother off the cliff? Who were my true friends? Who were my enemies? Where was the blood coming from my neck which I longed for so much? Why hadn't I just lay down and died when I should have?_ With a huge amount of strength that frightened me, I slammed my paw down on the ground, sending a pawful of pebbles flying off every which way. I hadn't lay down and died because I hadn't been ready to give in.

I take in my surroundings; I wasn't in the Pridelands anymore, I wasn't even in the Outlands, I was beyond all of that; I was in the Roguelands. This was the place where exiled lions and lionesses were rumoured to travel and live the rest of their days out here. Prey was said to be moderately abundant and the watering hole was where the inhabiting lions met up and shared experiences and found who they could trust and who they couldn't. But, true to their name, Rouges didn't form prides; they were solitary animals, with only an alliance of up to three lions having been reported. These alliances could mean the difference between life and death if you were lucky to find lions that you could trust.

The Roguelands were sandy, muddy and barren with pebbles scattered around in small piles. Dead trees and dry grass were scattered like vulture pickings around the landscape, hills rose up around me, spread far and wide across my vision. Several bones and skulls lay around me, yet it was nowhere near to the extent that the Outlands reached. From where I was, I couldn't see any sign of water, but I could see a couple of antelopes, zebras and gnu around.

I quivered with fear; I had never been here, I had only thought of it as a rumour when I was a cub, but now I could see that it was very much real. The reality of my exile hit me square in the heart; Rafiki's tree was in the Pridelands, I was exiled from the Pridelands, I could never return to my friend. My ears twitched as I heard a scuffling of paws on the hot sand, I thrust my head up and looked around; the land was empty "Who's out there?" I snapped.

"Easy, moja kidogo" I heard behind me, a gruff, yet gentle voice had spoken, using the Swahili language for 'Little one'

I swung round and flattened my ears as my eyes locked on a tall, cream lion with a golden brown mane, fluffy and resting on his head in a complimentary way to his appearance. His eyes were lined with a deep black; his nose was that of an Outlander, his irises were sky blue, his ear rims were a deep brown and his paw toes, underbelly and muzzle were pure white "Who are you?" I asked, taking a step back.

"My name is Shavu" He said, flashing a cheeky grin "And, true to its meaning, I can be very cheeky" He chuckled "I'll introduce you to my friend, Jeuri" He looked over at a sandy hill and called out "Hey, Jeuri! Come on over and meet our new friend!"

A deep auburn coloured lion about Shavu's height, appeared over the hill, fear struck my heart as I took in his appearance: His mane was dark brown, almost black, resting on his head in a similar manner to Kovu's. His muzzle, underbelly and paw toes were cream, my own colour; his nose was that of a Pridelander. His iris colour was dull green.

"My name is Jeuri, as you have heard" He said "It means 'tyrant' but I was never a ruler, however I was meant to be king of the Pridelands, years ago, but I was beaten in the fight for dominance. Then the heathen had the cheek to exile me over here" The lion spat.

"Say, you haven't introduced yourself yet, moja kidogo" Shavu spoke up.

"If you hadn't guessed by now, Shavu sometimes likes to spout out phrases in Swahili" Jeuri said, walking over with a long, graceful stride and stood next to his cream coloured friend.

"I gathered" I said, I paused as I thought of whether to call myself Majuto or Scar. These rogues surely wouldn't have heard of Scar, but should I take the risk? There could always be a new rogue that had come from the Pridelands and spread the story.

"And your name is?" Jeuri spoke up; his tone was impatient and forced an answer out of me.

"I'm Majuto" I said, chickening out and going with my undercover name.

"'Regret'" Shavu mused "Well, us rogues do have some funny names" He said, shrugging "Come along, Majuto, we'll show you our home and teach you about the ways of the Roguelands" He said, walking past me. I followed, Jeuri walking side by side with me.

Standing next to them, I felt dwarfed, I wasn't the average size for a lion, I was small and scrawny, certainly not a lion that one would think of as being able to survive an attack from the hyena clan. From this angle, I could see that Jeuri had a scar ravaging down his left shoulder, cutting down his leg and trailing off as it curved and reached his paw. Shavu, from what I could see, had no scars; but he probably had a whole history that I didn't know about.

I kept my head down as we walked while Jeuri and Shavu held their heads at a normal height "So, what are you in for?" Shavu said; breaking the silence, he didn't turn his head to look at me, he kept his eyes firm ahead of him; this was probably some Rogue tic that I had yet to pick up.

"I was, er…Framed for a crime I didn't commit" I said.

"Ooh, do tell us more" Shavu said, I heard the grin in his voice.

"Well…Simba and I were walking in a barren land, Zira-"

"What do you mean, Zira?" Jeuri said, snapping his head round to look at me.

"Yes, do you know her?"

"Do I know her?" Jeuri hollered, laughing "She was my mate! I had a son with her, named Kovu"

My jaw dropped, my eyes widened "K-Kovu? You're K-Kovu's father?" I stuttered, weakly.

Jeuri nodded "Yes, I am…Why do you look so shocked about that?"

"I was Zira's mate too, I had a son and daughter with her, Nuka and Vitani" I said "Zira always told me…That _I_ was Kovu's father"

Jeuri said nothing, just blinked in shock. The both of us had stopped walking, Shavu was walking ahead, he noticed that we were no longer walking behind him and he turned around and walked back to us "Nini blazes kinachoendelea hapa?" (This is Swahili for 'What the blazes is going on here?') He cried out, and then took in our expressions "What's happened?" He asked.

Jeuri shook his head sadly "I'm so sorry, Majuto…I had no idea she was with anyone else" He said.

I shook my head "No…It's fine…" I said.

The three of us were silent for a bit, and continued walking. Until Shavu broke the quiet "So, you were saying how you got here, Majuto"

"Right…Well, Zira and her Outlanders surrounded me and Simba. Zira said 'Well done, Majuto, just like we always planned', framing me for organizing the attack, but I hadn't. Well, Simba fought them and I was kicked into a rock, dazing myself and my hearing and vision was blurry and disorientated, but just intact long enough to see my son, Nuka, jump into the back of Simba, sending him tumbling down a cliff, crashing into a rock, injuring his shoulder and landing on the floor. He raced off to a mountain of logs and climbed his way up them, Nuka grabbed onto his ankle and tried to pull him down, but he was kicked off into a crevice between some logs, Simba dislodged one of the logs and sent it tumbling down the pile onto Nuka's skull…Simba escaped and…Nuka…Nuka died…" I said, my voice trailing off.

Neither Shavu nor Jeuri said a word; Jeuri was staring at me and Shavu's ears were pinned back, listening. I sighed "Nuka was my son, Shavu" I said, my eyes averted from the two lions.

"I'm so sorry, Majuto" Shavu said.

"I returned to the Pridelands the next day and the animals chased me away with a musical number" I said, trying to inject a little bit of humour into the dreary atmosphere.

"Ah yes, where the animals try and kill you before you reach the border" Jeuri said, his voice dripping with disdain.

I nodded "What about you, Shavu?" I asked.

"Me? Well, I was exiled from the Outlands for murder" Shavu said.

"What do you mean, Murder?" I said, incredulous, my stomach clenched at the thought of my brother's murder.

"Well, what the Outlanders saw as murder, I accidentally killed the…What could you call it? Er…Leader's daughter…What was even more heinous about it was…I was the leader's brother, so their daughter was my niece" Shavu said, his voice seemed guilty, as though the weight of what he had done was really weighing him down…I knew how that felt.

"But why were you charged for murder?" I asked.

"I wanted to have what my brother had, and to do that I had to get rid of their daughter, the grief would tear them apart and I would fight my brother for dominance" Shavu paused, as if in thought.

"Did you…Love your niece?"

"I thought the world of her; I played and teased her every day…But one day, playing went too far and I scratched her across the throat, killing her instantly. My brother saw me kill his daughter and thus, I ended up here…About three or four years ago" He concluded.

I hung my head slightly, I couldn't even say that I had accidentally dropped Mufasa off that cliff, I threw him off. We walked across the burning sand and at last, as the full moon was high, we crawled into a sandy cave, big enough for four lions.

Shavu and Jeuri lay down near the back of the cave, side by side, yet I lay in the entrance, my body parallel to the walls of the scoping entrance, I lay my head on my paws and looked out at the moon. It had been a long time since I had looked at the moon and really appreciated seeing it, earlier times I had just taken it for granted, but now I had been so close to death, I found it difficult to take anything for granted now.

I looked back at Jeuri and bite my lip; how could Zira have lied to me like that? Sure, she had cheated on me with Jeuri…But did she think I would be angry and lash out at her? Was she too scared to tell me? Did she want to cheat on me or was she forced in some way?


	16. Oh, I Shall Practice My Curtesy

The sun glared in front of my closed eyes, foggy red light dancing in my vision, I blinked open my eyes, wearily and stared into the distance, zoning out. No visions danced in front of my eyes, no sounds rang in my ears; only silence thickened the atmosphere in my brain and removed me from reality. I only snapped out of it when I felt someone nudging the side of my neck, my reaction was instinctive. I leap to my feet, and swing round to face the inside of the cave, a growl ripping out of my throat, baring my teeth, lowering my head so it was parallel to my back, my muzzle lifting up at…Shavu He stepped back, his face twisted into shock, fear and surprise.

When I finally realised who it was, my lips dropped and I raise my head and bite my lip "Shavu…I'm sorry…I…" I trailed off and my shoulders sagged.

Shavu shook his head "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have disturbed you" He said "Anyway, me and Jeuri want to take you to meet Kifo"

"Who's that?" I asked, bemused.

"Kifo is the leader of the Roguelands, even though we aren't a pride, we need someone to keep the lions in check; so we have Kifo, any leader patrols the Roguelands regularly and has a horde of Painted Dogs to keep an eye on us. Painted Dogs blend into the environment, so we don't see them a lot, and when we do, it's normally at meetings or by chance" Shavu explained.

"Oh…" I said, nodding slowly. I wasn't comfortable with a lion that was in cahoots with wild dogs, especially as I knew of their easy betrayal. And his name meant 'Death', so that wasn't too comforting.

"You'll get used to our ways as you live here longer" The cream lion said with a smile "Msiwe Na wasiwasi" He added, using the Swahili language for 'Don't worry'.

I smiled vaguely at him and licked my lips, the desert outside was morphing into my throat and mouth "Before we go see Kifo, could we visit the waterhole, please?" I asked.

"Of course, you could use with a bath" Shavu said, giving me that cheeky grin again.

"Excuse me?" I said, slightly insulted.

"You haven't noticed the dust on your pelt, have you?"

"Huh?" I said, looking at my hindquarters; dust encrusted the fur on my back, hindquarters, even the tuft of black fur on my tail, light brown dust streaking through the black. Heat flushed in my cheeks, I had never been one for looking after my appearance, but I hated having dirt in my coat like this, it just made me look even more like an Outlander or a Rogue. Actually, that wasn't true; Shavu and Jeuri were as clean as the sun was bright.

I looked harder at my pelt and my eyes widened in shock; the dust covered up some of the scars, blending in with my coat and making it look as though I had never been at loggerheads with the hyena clan. It made me look like the villain I was. It sent shivers down my spine and aggressive flicks into my tail.

"Are you alright, Majuto?" Shavu asked; his voice nervous.

"Hm, oh…I'm fine" I said, trying to still the flicks in my tail.

"Ok…" Shavu trailed off and then looked into the back of the cave, I turned my head in the same direction and my fur stood up on end in fear as I saw two dull green eyes glowing in the darkness. I stepped back, imagining the ghosts of my past creeping out of the shadows and taunting me, surrounding me and whispering and blaming and turning the peace into a whirlwind of fear and emotional trauma. All these images appeared in my mind's eye and when Jeuri appeared, the blood fled from my face and I stepped back until the sun bore its heat on my hindquarters. My breathing was ragged, panting and just plain scared out of my wits.

"Majuto, what's wrong?" Jeuri said, walking over to me.

But I couldn't see Jeuri, all I could see was Kovu, Mufasa, Simba, Ahadi, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, Sarabi, Uru, Nala, Tamu, Zira, Nuka, Vitani; all of their faces flashing in front of my eyes, in place of Jeuri's face "Stop harassing me, you're all dead to me" I yelled, closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I turned away from him and the ghosts of my past and kept my eyes tight shut.

"Majuto, please, what's going on?" Jeuri said, pushing me onto my side and rolling me on my back, I tried to remain in my sitting position by pushing against his paw, but he was too strong and I flopped onto my side with a heavy _thump!_ I opened my eyes and looked at Jeuri, no more faces of my past flashed across his features, and I let a sigh of relief "Why are you so pale?" Jeuri asked.

My mouth gaped and my lips twitched, trying to form a sentence "I…I…I just…Just…" I sighed "I just…The ghosts of my past…Still haunt me" I said.

The two rogues looked at each other and nodded knowingly "Let's get you down to the waterhole and then we'll introduce you to Kifo" Shavu said.

I rolled onto my front and pushed myself to my paws, Shavu and Jeuri walked out of the cave and into the distance, I followed them as quickly as my feet would carry me. We passed dead trees, bushes and dry grass. After a few more minutes, we came to a large hole full of clear water; probably the only beautiful, perfect thing in this wasteland.

I trotted forward, past Jeuri and Shavu and to the edge of the watering hole, wet mud covering my forepaws, the water was deep and clear, and I was able to see right down to the bottom of the hole. I shoved my muzzle into the sparkling liquid and lapped up my fill, I lifted my head for air, and my goatee stuck out in wet strands of fur and stuck to my chin. Water dripped from my whiskers and filled my nose, I snorted it out and wiped my mouth, I heard hysterics of laughter behind me and looked over my shoulder; Shavu and Jeuri and were throwing their heads around with laughter.

I laughed nervously and it dyed with a nervous 'Heh-heh' and smile. I looked back at the water and then at my dirt-caked leg and grinned. I lowered myself down on my forelegs and pushed backwards, then leapt off the bank and into the middle of the water, I went under the surface for a minute, then kicked my way back up. Dirt floated in clouds around me in the water, swirling and dancing under me, spreading out in tendrils on the surface. I looked back at Jeuri and Shavu, to find them grinning and then Shavu raced towards me and leapt in, covering me with a wave of water. Jeuri walked to the bank and sat down, raising one eyebrow at us.

I shook my head, clearing my ears and nose of water, droplets flying off my mane, I looked over at Shavu, he was laughing "At least you're clean" He spluttered. I raised my paw and smacked it down into the water, sending water flying into Shavu's face. He sneezed and splashed me back, and so began a game of Splash.

Jeuri sat shaking his head on the bank, while I and Shavu started to wrestle in the water. I was laughing, happiness coursing through my veins; such a feeling hadn't flooded me since I had been playing with the hyena trio when I was a cub. Even when I was king, I hadn't felt happy like this, I had felt like a cheat.

Tears rose in my eyes when I thought of the hyena trio, why did I have to be such a coward and pin the blame on someone else? If I hadn't, I could still be me, not Majuto. But I pushed the regret away, what had happened couldn't be undone.

Jeuri cleared his throat from the bank "Ahem, shall we depart?" He said.

Shavu swam towards the bank and I swam after him, pulling myself out of the water and shaking myself dry. I watched Shavu and Jeuri smile at each other and then, without a word or even a glance at me, walked past me to the east. I shrugged and walked after them; I supposed that now was the time that I would meet Kifo.

* * *

"Well, look what the hyena dragged in" Kifo said, with a sneer.

The huge Outlander stood before me, ghostly white mane whipping in the slight breeze, ruffling his smoke grey fur, he had no paw colour, but his muzzle and underbelly was ghostly white, like his mane and tail tuft. His pale white claws were extended, the tips touching the ground, his dead grey eyes bore into me, looking into my very soul. But what made my fur stand on end was blood permanently stained around his muzzle and toes.

I flinched slightly as Kifo mentioned hyenas, but I wasn't going to retaliate with a placid answer, I may as well show my personality at the first impression "Yes, and his name is Majuto" I said, only with a drop of sarcasm in my voice.

"Regret, eh?" Kifo said "Well, you'll regret disrespecting your leader"

I couldn't resist using something I used long ago "Ooh, I shall practice my curtsey" I replied with a sarcastic smile.

Kifo snarled "How dare you?!" He stepped towards me, his teeth bared.

I shrunk back, my cowardice resurfacing. I cringed on the inside, since when had I been so cowardly?

"I'm glad you know your place, now where are from?" Kifo continued, pulling his head back.

"The Pridelands" I said.

"You are? You don't look like it"

"I know, but I am"

"What were you exiled for?"

"A crime I didn't commit"

Kifo sighed, as though he had heard my reason a million times "Haven't we all? Elaborate"

So I did; I retold my story just as I had done for Jeuri and Shavu, leaving out the part about Nuka's death.

Kifo nodded "You'll do, it's not as though I can send you anywhere else" He said and walked away "Moja, Kiburi" He called "Patrol the lands and make sure Regret here doesn't make and mistakes" He ordered with a snap and disappeared into a clump of bushes, while two Painted Dogs trotted out of the same bush and went in different directions, one to the west and the other one over to me.

I raised one eyebrow "What do _you_ want?"

"I am Kiburi and I've been told to keep an eye on you" The dog said, puffing out his chest.

I rolled my eyes, the dog's name meant 'Proud', that was showing clear as day.

"Surely you could spy on him _discreetly_?" Jeuri snapped "I think _we've_ got this under control"

Kiburi huffed and morphed into the bushes, completely disappearing from view. I shook my head and turned to Shavu and Jeuri "Where to now?" I asked.

"Away from that mutt" Jeuri said, looking into the bush where Kifo had disappeared. He turned and walked back the way we had come, I looked at Shavu for answers, but he merely shook his head and walked off with his friend.


	17. I Still Have A Bad Back, You Know

Jeuri's eyes were clouded with anger, yet his mouth was smiling. Shavu remained emotionless, but he had a glint in his eye that told me he was happy. And then there was me, I was perplexed; I couldn't for the life of me work out what was going on. Both Rogues seemed happy, but Jeuri looked furious. With a sigh, I decided to ask what was up "Is there anything that you would like to tell me?"

Jeuri let out a low, rumbling chuckle "You, my boy, back-chatted Kifo" He said, looking at me, a smile spreading across his jaw.

I raise an eyebrow "Do elaborate"

"I hate Kifo, with a passion. I've wanted to see him angered by a sarcastic comment for so long now; I never thought I would see the day" Jeuri beamed.

"And I take it I'm the reason you're so happy?"

"Mhm" Jeuri said, nodding.

"Well, isn't that peachy?" I said, side-glancing Shavu. The cream lion smiled and looked away from me.

We walked on, but my mind wasn't on the stroll; my mind was churning with thoughts of when I was going to return to the Pridelands. I had been in the Roguelands for two days now and Zira was sure to be attacking soon, if she hadn't already. I had told myself that I would find out more information, but I hadn't. What with joining the Pride, walking with Simba and being exiled, there hadn't been a chance for me to sneak away into the Outlands. Maybe now would be a good time…

I cleared my throat, raising my head and lifting out of my thoughts. Jeuri and Shavu turned their heads and looked at me, I had stopped and they had continued walking "What's up, Majuto?" Shavu said, his brows furrowing.

I sighed "I have to go" I said.

"There's a bush over-" Shavu started.

"Not that kind of 'Go'" I scolded "I mean…I need to leave"

"You can't" Jeuri said "You're a Rogue, and Rogues don't leave the Roguelands"

"I know…But…" Here I told them my story; what I had heard, what I had done, who I had interacted with and what I planned to do.

Jeuri and Shavu's jaws dropped, both of them were speechless. I turned my head away from them in shame "I've been pretty stupid, haven't I?" I said.

I turned away from them and started to walk away, if they weren't going to say anything or try and talk me out of it, then I'd do this alone.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as my paws crossed over the border of the Outlands, puffs of black dust flew up from my footfalls. I saw a battalion of lions starting to gather together. My eyes widened, and then my jaw stiffened and my eyes narrowed.

With a furious roar, I charged forwards and leapt over the top of the lionesses' heads, landing in front of them and my back feet swinging round in the dust, my teeth bared and my head pressed forward and my neck became parallel with my back. The lionesses quickly surrounded me in a circle and pressed in close, ready to attack me if need be.

"Well, look what we have here" Zira's voice sounded from behind me, I swung round and stood tall, my head high and my shoulders slanted to make me appear bigger than I really was. Zira chuckled "Ah, Majuto, what a lovely surprise, I'm so glad that you have decided to return"

"No, I'm not-" I stuttered.

"Hush, we need a male on our side, in place of Kovu" She spat her son's name out with disgust "And a strong contender like you…Well, you will do nicely"

The lionesses behind me started to nudge me forwards, while the Outlanders on my sides flanked me tightly, putting an end to all thoughts of escape.

Zira smiled as I was pushed almost nose to nose with her, she raised her paw and unsheathed her claws out even further, then swatted out a circular piece of skin on my ear, pain seared through my ear and I gritted my teeth.

But what frightened me even more was the evil glint in Zira's eyes as she put her paw on my left foot, her claws brushed over my toes and stopped at my smallest one. Her smile spread even further up her face and she scraped a line out of my smallest toe. My face screwed up in pain and Zira raised her clubbed paw again and hit me over the head with it.

My vision blurred and then I felt a weight on my back, I was pinned to the ground and a ghostly white strand of mane hair appeared in the corner of my vision "Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a sad sight you are" A male muttered in my ear.


	18. Only the Bravest

Kifo! I snarled and tried to move, but the Rogue Leader was too heavy for me to lift off. Zira and her horde of lionesses laughed evilly at my expense and walked away, to the Pridelands.

"I thought you were with the Rogues, not the Outlanders!" I yelled up at the lion.

"And I thought you were a cowardly lion with no information, but not all of us are right" He said, rolling me onto my back and pressing down on my shoulders, just the way Simba did so long ago "But then, on second thoughts…" He mused, looking at my bleeding paw "I was half right, you are pretty cowardly" He said.

And then with no warning, his jaws clamped around my injured limb and shook it side to side like a dog with a chew toy…Me being the chew toy. I was sick of it; always being the chew toy and never being the dog. But there was nothing I could do, just lie there, vulnerable and weak, bearing through the pain. I could feel Kifo's canines digging down to my bone and ravaging the skin and muscle.

I struggled as the pain became too much and kicked with my back legs, clawed toes scrapping the ghostly white underbelly, the smoke grey lion grunted in frustration and pain, but kept mauling my paw. I raised my right appendage and swatted the lion round the head, my claws ripping out chunks of mane and scratching his nose and cheek, then I went for his dead, grey eyes. My claw stabbed into his eyeball and…Well, I'll spare you the gory details.

My paw was released and Kifo snarled at me, he raised his paw and was about to hit me around the face and most probably kill me, when a flash of auburn whizzed past and knocked Kifo off of my scrawny body. I rolled onto my front and lay there as I saw Jeuri and Kifo fighting.

My auburn friend pushed into Kifo's shoulders and dragged his claws down his opponent's chest, cutting his mane. Kifo clawed Jeuri's stomach and knocked him off his feet and jumped on him, biting his neck. Jeuri howled and pushed the grey lion off of him and whacked him around his face, knocking him off balance. My friend took his chance and leapt onto his back, and bit into the skin of Kifo's neck, digging in and ripping.

Suddenly, Shavu appeared in front of me and helped me to my feet. But our company was not shared long as Shavu was pushed off his paws by a whole pack of Painted Dogs. I limped backwards, my left, mauled paw held gingerly above the ground. The dogs bit and clawed at Shavu's cream body, the white of his fur streaking with red blood.

I limped backwards again, my injured paw gushing with blood, but strangely I couldn't feel the pain, the adrenaline pumping through my veins leaving me feeling empty and afraid. I looked over at Jeuri and saw Kifo lying on the ground, either unconscious or dead. Jeuri's muzzle was covered with blood, dripping off his chin. He leapt at Shavu and the horde of Painted Dogs, claws ripping and slicing, teeth gnashing and ripping. Many dogs jumped back and ran off out of cowardice, while others leapt on Jeuri's back. I was frozen in fear; my fur was bristling and matting with sweat. Jeuri roared with anger and pain as a Painted Dog bit into the middle of his back "Majuto!" He yelled "Run! Get to the Pridelands, fight with the Pridelanders!"

Then Shavu roared out "Be the hero that we know you can be!"

Their words rang in my ears, the hero they knew I could be? Was there even such a thing in me? Deep down in my soul, in my heart, was there a Pridelander? Was there a hero deep down? Did I have the courage and the strength to fight with my birth Pride? My jaw stiffened and my teeth clamped together as hard as they could without physically harming me; I could do this; I could be the hero that all the Pridelanders would adore.

I turned and without a pain-riddled cry, raced across the land, streaks of black dust flying up at my every lopsided footfall. My fear rushed away as quickly as the ground under my paws.

An ache in my injured paw kept me from leaping over boulders and shrubbery; instead I dodged around and flattened them. Soon, my paws left the dust and found gritty, golden sand, then crushed lush green grass, characteristic of the Pridelands.

I kept running until I could see the battalion of Outlanders trudging through the muddy lake, I put on a burst of speed and went around them, hoping they wouldn't see me pass by…But of course, my luck ran out the moment I lost my crown.

My underbelly met the ground with a heavy, and moderately painful, _thump!_ I sighed with exasperation, today just wasn't my day. I heard a chuckle and felt claws starting to prick into the nape of my neck "Got him Mother, darn traitor" A feminine voice called out…It was familiar.

"Good girl Vitani" Zira said, my own daughter was pinning me down? This just got better and better "Tsk, tsk, Majuto just doesn't know when to give up, does he?" She lowered her head down to my eye level.

"Nope, he doesn't Mother, and now he'll pay" Vitani said, her voice growing evil towards the end of her sentence.

"Exactly" Zira said. I could feel anger bubbling up inside, and something else…What was it: Annoyance, Irritation, Dread, or Fear? No, it was strength! I drew in my splayed out legs and with a burst of energy, pushed myself off the grassy floor and sent Vitani tumbling off my back.

"Get off of my back!" I yelled and then raced off, using the distraction I had caused to my advantage. Zira and Vitani were shocked and angry, but I was gone. I doubted that they would bother sending lionesses after me, but a small part of me was dreading the feeling of being pushed to the ground again, and if I was, it would probably be the very last time I was.

Pride Rock was crawling closer and closer, I could almost taste the peace that was sure to come after the war…Hopefully, if the Pridelanders got a battalion together quick enough.


	19. Matter of Pride

Thunder crashed above me and torrents of rain poured down as I skidded to a halt, hop-limping the last few paces, my claws clicked on the rock that turned into the Pride's home. I stood looking around, my breathing deep and panting. My eyes flicked around and finally landed on Simba. I limped nearer to get a better look, the pain of my mutilated paw was starting to creep in, sending throbs through my appendage. I clenched my teeth and limped quicker towards them.

"Simba..!" I called out, my stomach twisting.

Simba's head snapped round to look at me, strands of his soaked mane swinging in front of his face "Majuto…" He said. I limped nearer "Get **OUT!**" He yelled at me, taking a step towards my drenched body.

With a sigh, I looked into his eyes wearily "You haven't got time to chase me off now, the Outlanders are already here" I said. I looked down at my paws; they were coated with mud from the same lake that the Outlanders had waded through.

Simba looked into the distance, the way I had come; he looked back at me "Will you be able to fight?" He said, I noticed his eyes look down at my mauled paw, covered in mud, a small puddle of blood surrounding it, I held it up gingerly and licked it clean, with the blood cleared up it wasn't as bad as I thought, a row of teeth marks went from the left to right of the middle of my paw. I set it on the ground and put my weight on it…It was painful, but not as much as it had been before.

I nodded, if I could run here at full speed, I could fight. Simba looked back at the lionesses "Pridelanders!" He announced "We have a new soldier" He said. I limped from behind Simba, showing myself to the lionesses, they whispered amongst themselves, unsure of my presence.

"I want no trouble from any of you" Simba said "Majuto will fight with us and that will be the end of it, what he does after the battle is up to him" He looked at me, taking in my appearance. I straightened myself up, putting my injured paw on the ground and stood tall, holding my head high, trying my best to look like a warrior.

Simba indicated with his head and we started to march into the war, I followed behind, trying to walk as normally as I could. I ambled next to a lioness named Kaila, her pelt reminded me of Shavu's and I wondered if he was alright. I wondered if Jeuri was ok, I wondered if Kifo was dead, I wondered if we would win this war. I wondered a lot of things, past and present, I wondered why I had ever become so jealous, I wondered why my father had never liked me much, I wondered if Simba would ever forgive me if and when he found out who I really was.

"Hey" A female voice leaked into my ears and a slender shoulder nudged into my own, I looked over at Kaila "At least make yourself look like a soldier" She snapped.

I looked away from her and sighed "I'm not the soldiering type" I said "I fight more with my words than my strength"

"That's why you're full of scars" Kaila quipped.

"I'm ashamed of them really" I said "Hyenas gave them to me"

"Never be ashamed of a scar, it just means that you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you" She said, kindly.

"Thank you" I said.

"Now, put your head up and strengthen your stride" She said, marching proudly.

I put my head up and put a bit of oomph in my stride, I glanced at my paw every so often, hoping against hope that it wouldn't be infected.

We passed herds of zebras, antelope and wildebeest galloping the other way, and to be honest I couldn't blame them, if I hadn't gotten myself into the mess I had, I would be running the other way too. But this was the price I was paying for my past mistakes and I wasn't going to run from fate, I had been running from it for too long.

I looked to the left and saw Rafiki's tree, and a pang struck my heart, I hadn't thought how this would affect me. I turned my head to Kaila "Do you know where Rafiki is?" I asked, quickly.

Kaila pointed with her head "Have a look there" She said, pointing to her right in front of her.

I looked and my heart swelled with joy, Rafiki was walking along in front of me, a smile spread up my jaw and I wanted to call out to him, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself. My heart leapt with delight, I never thought I would see Rafiki ever again and here he was, right in front of me.

But then, we stopped. And in front of us…Were the Outlanders.

The lionesses lined up and I was nudged behind Simba, he held his head high and placed his forepaw down deliberately. This was the start of a war that would change the Pridelands forever, and whether it was for good or bad, I would stand with them and channel my inner Pridelander.


	20. Chance of a Lifetime

"Last chance Zira, go home" Simba snapped at my old mate.

"I am home" Zira said, smiling "**ATTAAAAAAAAACK!**" She screamed, the Outlanders roared and started to walk towards us, we did the same, then they started trotting and we copied their movements. Then they started to run and I grinned as we started to copy as well. The opposing sides clashed together like waves, although much less peaceful.

At once, the Pridelanders were thrown to the ground and I was leapt on, my side smashing into the floor. I clawed at the lioness's face and drew blood; I didn't recognise who it was, so I didn't feel any remorse at throwing her off me and leaping after her falling body. I pinned her to the floor and sank my teeth into my neck and throwing her across the battlefield, she skidded on the ground, leaving a smear of blood after her.

I swung around and observed the battle, the Pridelanders were gaining little ground and the Outlanders were ripping them to shreds.

My eyes landed on one of the Pridelander lionesses who was struggling, I recognised her as Kaila, the lioness who had been talking to me on the way here; she was pinned on the floor, blood flowing from her shoulder and flank, I pounced at the lioness on top of her, pushing her off Kaila and into the dirt a few metres from the fallen Pridelander. I slashed her chest and cheek with my claws; she reached up at me and slapped me across the face, her claws unsheathed and slicing my cheek from the edge of my mane to the start of my muzzle.

I placed my paw on her cheek and turned it to the side, pushing the right side of her face into the ground, she struggled and scratched my leg, ripping it open and causing waterfalls of blood to cascade down on her face, my teeth gritted in pain and I scratched down her eyeball, ripping and shredding. Blood spattered on my claws and then a creamy head lunged in and sunk into the lioness's neck, killing her instantly.

"Kaila!" I cried, stepping off the lioness "Are you ok?" I looked at her bleeding flank and shoulder.

"I'm fine, nothing Rafiki can't fix, now go and enjoy yourself" She said with a wink and raced off to leap at another Outlander.

I swung round again and looked for Zira, my jade eyes flicking backwards and forwards. Then I found my muzzle being pressed into the floor and my legs splaying out. Claws started to cut my shoulders and snaking down to my stomach. I gritted my teeth in pain and forced myself onto my back, my eyes met Vitani's. How could I kill my own daughter?

"Vitani, please, don't do this" I said.

"Why not, you escaped three times now and I'm not letting you go a fourth time" She said, planting herself back onto my shoulders.

"Please, I'm not who you think I am" I pleaded.

"What do you mean?"

I opened my mouth to speak when a voice yelled out "Vitani, stop stalling and kill him! He's our biggest threat to victory!" Zira…

Vitani looked deep into my eyes and I stared back boldly, both of our gazes were unwavering, and then Vitani came to a conclusion "Daddy, is that you?" She whispered.

I smiled "Yes, Vitani, your daddy's back"

Vitani's face lit up, and it looked genuine, she believed me. My daughter shoved her muzzle into my face and nuzzled my cheek, licking my ear in the same way she used to do when she was a cub. I nuzzled her neck and pulled her ear gently. This proved it for her and I felt a wetness splatter onto my cheek, was she crying?

But I never found out, Vitani was thrown off of me and Zira planted herself on my shoulders, pushing them into the ground. My eyes widened "Zira!" I cried.

"No, Mother please, Daddy's home" Vitani cried.

"Don't be so stupid, this lion is clearly not Scar, he died when Simba killed him" She snapped.

"But-"

"Hush! This is war; you can't go around mistaking lions for your dead father!" Zira exclaimed.

"Hey!" A new voice yelled out, it was very familiar "Get off of my friend!" Then a staff came down on Zira's head and caused her to roar and slink off me. I quickly rolled onto my front and stood up, backing away and standing next to Vitani, she nuzzled into my shoulder and watched.

Zira slunk around Rafiki, snapping her jaws and dodging his swings of his staff, the battle had stilled, a silence thicker than fog hung over the battle ground, all of the lionesses were watching Zira and Rafiki's coming battle.

Rafiki turned and slammed his staff on Zira's back…That triggered a reaction; Zira leapt at Rafiki, her paws slamming into his shoulders and knocking him back onto the ground, she raised her paw and that was when I snapped. I couldn't let the monkey that had believed in me, saved me, healed me, been my friend die when I could have done something to prevent it, that would be even worse than the guilt of Mufasa's death.

My paws left the ground and suddenly I found myself in the air, my forepaws connecting with Zira's side and rolling her off of the monkey and we tumbled head over heels along the ground, scratching and biting at each other.

We hit a rock that jutted out and we were torn apart, Zira flying to the left and me off to the right. My side smashed into rock and I saw Zira hanging on for dear life below me, I stared at her, and then I heard a cracking sound, all the rain had built up on the dam and now it had burst its seams. Water was flowing down the ravine, logs floating on the surface.

I look back at Zira, she was either going to live, if she accepted my help, or die if she didn't. Now I faced the ultimate decision; I had to choose whether to save my mate, or let her die.


	21. Seen for the Wonder I Am

Cries of "Majuto!" and "Dad!" leaked into my ears; I looked back up at the ledge that I and Zira had fallen off, Vitani and Simba were standing right at the drop, Vitani's toes curled over the edge. Simba was looking up and down the ravine, probably looking at the water raging below me.

I look back at Zira, wide eyes and trembling muzzle betraying her fear. If I could hear her, I would be sure that she was whispering something. My paws twitched as the thoughts of my predicament flooded through my mind. I wasn't sure whether to reach down and help my mate or not, I felt as thought she would reject my help because she didn't know who I was.

"Zira, if I go to help you…Will accept it?" I said.

"NO!" Zira snapped "You're a petty Outlander gone good, just like Kovu, you're no better than him. You have tricked my daughter into thinking that you're Scar, but you won't fool me, I can see you for what you really are: A hurdle that is standing in my way of victory. But now, I will join my beloved Scar in death and leave this cruel world behind me"

"Please, don't do this, Vitani is right, I _am_ Scar"

"No. You're. NOT!" Zira said, her claws slipping and sending her further down the cliff "There is only _one_ Scar and he's dead"

"I need you, Zira, please, I can't live without you" I pleaded, reaching down with my paw to try and grab her own.

She clawed it away "Oh shut up with your whining, I've had enough of you"

And with that, her claws lost their grip of the cliff and she plummeted to her death "**_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_**_" _I yelled after her, she plunged into the water and the last I saw of her was her paw being knocked underwater by a log.

Tears rose in my eyes, so what if she had attacked the Pridelanders, she was avenging my alleged death and she had loved me right until her last breath. I felt a presence behind me and swung round, my fur bristling, my eyes locked with Kovu's.

Anger bubbled up in my heart "You don't even **CARE!**" I yelled at him, a growl ripping out of my throat.

"I-I…Of course I…She…I…" Kovu stuttered.

"It should be you down there, not her!" I roared.

"Why do you care so much?"

"She was my mate…But she didn't believe who I was" I said, my head dropping and staring at the ground.

"Does that mean…No…No…No…Scar…Father?" Kovu said, breathlessly.

"I'm not your father, you bear no relation to me or Nuka or Vitani…You are their half-brother" I said, walking past him and jumping onto a higher ledge, then looking for a way out from there. I glanced back at the ledge over which Zira fell; Kovu was staring at me in shock.

I turned my head back in front of me and carried on walking, I jumped up some more ledges and pulled myself back up to Vitani, Simba and the rest of the Outlanders and Pridelanders; they were all looking at me expectantly "Zira…Is dead" I sighed.

Vitani raced over to me and shoved her head under my jugular, burying herself in my mane; I press my chin into her neck and wrap my paw around her waist. My tears roll off my cheek and drop onto Vitani's forehead "I'll be the father I never was…I promise" I whispered in her ear.

"It doesn't matter, Dad, I love you for who you are, I don't care what any of them say. You've always been my father …Murderer or not"

I winced when Vitani said 'Murderer', but this only made me hug her harder, my tears choking me. Vitani put her paw round my shoulders and squeezed me back.

I heard someone clear their throat "Ahem, now that the Pridelanders have won this war, I believe the Outlanders are, once again, in exile" Simba said.

I raised my head and looked around at the Outlanders starting to move. Vitani looked panicked "Don't let them leave, Dad, please. I'm sick of fighting" She pleaded.

"**Wait!**" I roared out, the Outlanders stopped and Simba jumped in front of me, growling.

"I'm the one who gives the orders" He snarled.

"Stop it, let the Outlanders stay"

"No, just because you've been reunited with your daughter, doesn't mean that they deserve to stay" Simba said "In fact, why don't we just do away with it?" He rose his paw, claws unsheathed, staring maliciously at Vitani.

"**OVER MY DEAD BODY**" I roared, stepping between my nephew and my daughter.

"That can be arranged…Scar" I heard from behind me, I turned my head over my shoulder and stiffened as I saw Kovu.

"What do you mean by Scar?" Simba growled.

"There is no Majuto, this is my step father: Scar" Kovu growled, prowling over to me, his lips pulled back.

Simba's head snapped round to look at me "Is this true?" He snapped.

I looked up at the sky; the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. Then I heard a voice "Remember" And then the light dulled and shone in such a way that it blanked out all of my scars and showed only the one across my eye, I knew this was Mufasa's doing.

Simba's mouth gaped and he backed away a few steps "Uncle…Is it really you?" He whispered.

My shoulders sagged "Sadly, yes" I said.

"B-But…You were ripped apart by the hyenas"

"I fought them and…This is the result" I said "Rafiki really did help me…Timon and Pumbaa too, they helped me to put the past behind me and yet learn from it as well…Much like they did you, I believe"

Simba was lost for words, but he nodded vaguely. His mouth twitched and then he seemed to regain his ability to speak, by now I was just waiting for his torrent of anger "How dare you show your face?!" He roared "You tore the Pridelands apart and now you have the nerve to come back!?"

"Yes, I do. What we do and what we don't do are not written in stone, we make our own choices, we make our own mistakes and we have to learn from them. I learnt from my mistakes and moulded myself into a better lion, now you try and do that after coming to grips with the fact that you're a murderer" I said "It's not easy, but with help from friends like Rafiki" I looked over at the monkey, who was walking over to me "And Timon and Pumbaa" I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye and saw the warthog and the meerkat trotting over to me "You can do anything you please" I concluded, my friends and daughter sat beside me, Timon on Pumbaa's head and Vitani nuzzling into my mane.

Simba's brow furrowed "You have certainly proven yourself as a worthy Pride member, but I banished you from the Pridelands!"

I shook my head "You didn't banish _me_, you banished Majuto" I said.

"But, you _are_ Majuto" Simba said.

"_Was_ Majuto, I am no longer going under that name anymore, I am Sc -" I cut myself off and stiffened "Jeuri, Shavu" I whispered, then pushed past Simba and raced off to the Outlands, raced back to my friends.


	22. It's Your Fault He's Dead

My paws flew across the ground, faster than they had ever gone before; I had to get to them before it was too late, before the light faded from their eyes. My breath came in ragged puffs, sweat matting my fur and dust streaking through the fur on my legs. Just as I saw a mound of grey fur, I tripped over a skull and went tumbling onto my front and collapsed onto my chest, my rear end rising in the air and my forelegs stretching out behind my body "Ow…" I mumbled.

I dropped my rear on the ground and sat up, shaking my mane, I stood up and walked towards the grey fur, it was Kifo, I inspected his motionless body; blood was pouring from his neck and eye. I checked his pulse and found none, he was dead. Then I looked over at the pool of blood.

My fur bristled; amongst the blood were tons of motionless bodies of Painted Dogs, and amongst those were two coughing, bleeding lions; Shavu and Jeuri.

"You're alive!" I cried, dancing over to Shavu's blood-streaked body, I lowered my head to his eyes level and lay down in front of him, my underbelly being splashed with blood, I nudged his nose "Shavu…Please open your eyes" I said.

Shavu coughed and blinked open his eyes "Majuto…You came back?" He whispered, hoarsely.

"Of course I did, and don't call me Majuto anymore…It's Scar, my name is and always has been Scar" I said, nuzzling him and licking his forehead "Can you stand?"

"I don't know, but don't worry…About me…It's Jeuri you need to see" He whispered.

I looked over at the auburn lion, collapsed on his side, his back turned to me. His dark brown mane was streaked with blood, gashes ripped his back apart. With trembling steps, I crept over to him, my belly close to the floor.

"J-Jeuri…?" I whispered, crawling round to his face, my eyes filled up at what I saw: Jeuri's jaw was slack, his tongue hanging on the floor, blood covering his forehead and the bridge of his nose, his eyes were half-closed and, as I felt for his pulse, I couldn't find one. I started to panic and shook his shoulder "Jeuri, please wake up!" I shouted in his ear, willing for his eyes to open "Please…" I sobbed, tears rolled down my cheeks and I lay myself down next to his still body, my head resting on the side of his neck, the dark brown mane curling round my muzzle.

I saw Shavu struggling to his feet "Ma-Er, Scar, what's wrong?" He asked, staggering nearer.

I raised my head and shook it sadly. Shavu's mouth gaped "It can't be..." He whispered. I stood up and backed away, Shavu sat down at Jeuri's back and nuzzled his mane.

"If…If you want a place to stay…Just come over to the Pridelands and ask for me" I said "Or just…Come with me now" I added.

Shavu looked at me dejectedly. He glanced back at the dead body of Jeuri "I'll come now" He said and staggered after me. We walked in silence, my mauled leg and paw pounding with pain, but I couldn't care less about my leg's physical state, all I cared about was the fact that Shavu could die from his own wounds.

It took us about half an hour to make it back to the gathered Pridelanders and Outlanders, they were still in the same position I left them, but the Outlanders had lay down and were picking at their claws. The Pridelanders were sitting down and talking amongst themselves. Simba and Kovu were standing side by side, waiting for me to return.

Simba's face was twisted with anger; now he knew who I was, it was going to take a miracle for him to ever forgive me for what I have done. I held my head up "Go on, get it over with" I said "Pass judgement on me" I sat down, suddenly very weary with life.

My nephew growled "From what you have done in the past – murder, taking the throne with no right, fighting the future king, allowing hyenas into the Pridelands – your case is very difficult to allow you to even stay alive for much longer, let alone even allow you a place in exile" Simba said.

"When you hold resentment towards another, you are bound to that lion or other animal by an emotional link that is stronger than a mountain. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and be free" I said.

Simba blinked in confusion "In your situation, Scar, I don't forgiveness will get you very far" He said.

I shrugged '_It was worth a try, at least_' I thought to myself. I had now come to terms with the fact that this was my final hour; I may as well enjoy it while I could.

Simba sighed "Whatever you have done, Scar…You _are_ still my Uncle" He said "And…I don't think my father would want me to kill you" He added, looking up at the sky.

Rafiki stepped over "No, he wouldn't, Mufasa is the whole reason that Scar is still alive, he told me that Scar still had some work to do" He looked over at me and smiled "And I think Mufasa would want to see Scar in heaven when he was old and grey, not still in the prime of his life"

'_I have a few more years to annoy you yet_' I thought.

Simba looked long and hard at me, I wanted to make a sarcastic comment, I really did, but I felt that a bored facial expression would do my silence justice.

Simba looked at Nala "What should I do?" He said.

Nala walked up to me and circled around me, I watched her, my feet planted firmly in the ground, but my head following her movements, as far as I could turn it until I had to turn it the other way and watch her walk round.

"He certainly seems…Substantial" She mused, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come off it Nala, you were petrified of me when you were a cub" I said.

Nala raised an eyebrow at me, but seemed to brush my comment off "A few rules and boundaries should keep him contained" She said, turning her back on me "Keep him on trial for a few days, see if he really has changed" She said, then stood next to Simba, pressing her body close to his.

"Welcome back, Scar" Simba said.


	23. Good Now Get Out

Kiara appeared in my cave the next day. Simba was talking with me, catching up on the general Uncle-Nephew things "Daddy, the lionesses have been talking, they're saying that Scar is back, I don't understand" The princess said.

"Well-" Simba started, turning his head to his daughter.

I cut him off "Let me handle this" I said and stood up "I, Kiara, am your Great-Uncle Scar. I am back from the dead; I am the Majuto that arrived in the Pride around four days ago" I said "Does that clear things up for your pretty little head?" I added

"You mean…But…I-I…" Kiara stuttered.

"Look, I'm alive and that's all you need to worry about"

Kiara tilted her head and seemed to cheer up immediately "Can I call you Grunkle Scar?" She chirped.

I lifted one side of my nose up in disgust "Ingenious…You've obviously inherited those smarts from your grandfather" I drawled, sarcastically.

"Is that a 'yes' then?" Kiara cried, hopping from forepaw to forepaw.

"Yes, I suppose so" I said, sitting down.

Kiara cheered and bounded towards me, pouncing on my chest and pushing me over, she grinned and licked my cheek. My eyebrows crossed into a 'V' and pushed the young lioness off of me "I'm not the playing kind" I grunted.

Kiara frowned in sadness "Oh…Ok"

"If you want to play, then play with your…Partner, Kovu" I said, awkward about mentioning Kovu as Kiara's…Mate.

Kiara pouted "Ok" She said.

Simba looked at me "Leave my daughter alone" He said.

"I don't do cubs, surely you must know that from your cub days" I said.

My nephew said nothing more to me, but turned back to his daughter "Go play with Kovu, maybe Grunkle Scar will play later"

"I just said-" But I never got to finish my sentence as Simba put a paw on my chest and pushed me over, I rolled onto my side and grumbled to myself in annoyance and stood up, I walked over to a dark corner and flopped onto my side, as soon as Simba went, I'd go visit Shavu in Rafiki's tree.

Kiara left and Simba looked over at me "Uncle Scar, have you eve-" I cut him off.

"Simba, sometimes I need only what you can give me" I said.

"What's that?" Simba asked, sounding just like that young cub that was eager to get whatever I needed.

"Your absence" I said.

Simba frowned and stood up "Fine" He muttered and walked off back to Pride Rock.

I jumped up and raced out of the other entrance, leading to the savannah. A few of my scars had disappeared, Rafiki said they were merely scabs, the ones on my face, mouth and on my back legs had vanished. I found it all quite difficult to believe now, but Rafiki said that my injured leg and paw (which were both currently in bandages) wouldn't scar over or make any lasting impressions on later life.

I slowed down as I neared Rafiki's tree, I climbed up the rocks and stood in the entrance "Ah, Scar, how are you doing?" The monkey's voice rang from above me.

"Hello Rafiki, I've just come over to see Shavu" I said, looking up at the leafy canopy.

"He's responding well" The monkey jumped down in front of me "But, I'm worried, his wounds are infected, badly" He added, gravely.

I looked away from him; I didn't think I could cope with losing anyone else "Can you do anything for him?"

"I will do what I can"

I walked over to Shavu, stretched out on his side; his eyes were closed, snoozing away. I sat in front of his head, in a position where my paws would be the first thing that Shavu would see when he woke up.

His sorry state reminded me of myself; banana leaf bandages wrapping round his limbs, hindquarters, neck and tail. His mane had been cut down by the Painted Dogs' claws, it was close to his neck and head, offering no cushioning, it reminded me of a luxurious version of Nuka's mane, slightly longer and covering his neck.

I still couldn't believe that my eldest son was dead. Vitani was all I had left now; she lived with me in my little cave and at night, she cuddled up in my forelegs as though she never wanted to let me go, as if she thought that if she didn't keep me close I'd leave and she'd be left without a father again, as if she thought my survival was merely a dream and it wasn't real. And each morning, I'd wake up to find her nuzzled right into my body, sometimes awake and looking at me, to which I would say "I'm still here, darling" and lick her cheek.

I blinked and snapped out of my daydream, Shavu was yawning and looking up at me "Oh hey, Scar" He said.

I smiled "Hello, Shavu" I replied "How are you doing?" I said, lying down.

"Not too bad, I'm not in that much pain now" Shavu said "How's your daughter?"

"She's fine. She seems to try and spend as much time with me as possible, she still hasn't come to terms with the fact that this isn't a dream, I can't believe she recognised me, she was merely three days old when I supposedly died. I didn't think she'd remember, but I think she…Remembers the special things we used to do"

"Like what?"

"Things like ear tugging, she'll lick my ear and I'll tug hers. The way I let her clamber all over me, even if she is a little big, I'll take her out at night and we'll lay side by side on our backs and I'll teach her about the constellations. I did that once or twice when she was little, she'd lie on my chest and listen intently, but sooner or later, she'd fall asleep" My voice trailed off.

"You sound like the perfect dad" Shavu said "I hope you'll introduce me to her one day"

"Of course…I used to have doubts that she was really mine, because of her nose colour, she has a Pridelander pink nose…I kept thinking to myself that neither I nor Zira had a pink nose, but then I thought about her dead uncle Mufasa, he had a pink nose, he _was_ my brother, I do carry some of his genes, so I guess she could have gotten it from him…Or a distant relative" I mused.

"Even if she wasn't, to her, and you for that matter, you'll always be her father, biologically or not"

"True…I'm glad I met you, Shavu, I can talk to you about anything and you won't judge" I said.

"A lot of lions say that…Jeuri did" He said, looking away from me.

"I should have gotten there sooner, if only I had-"

Shavu cut me off "Hey, it's not your fault, he died just as you got there I think, he saved my life and yours, we should both be grateful for that, celebrate his memory and don't blame yourself for his demise, he wouldn't want that" He said.

My shoulders sagged "I know…I just wish we had more time, all of us together" I said.

"You fulfilled his dying wish, you know"

"What, to annoy Kifo with the thing that I know best: Sarcasm?" I said.

"No, you gave him another friend" Shavu paused "And a reason to kill Kifo" He added as an afterthought.

I smiled. We spoke for what seemed like another day, but it was only until the afternoon.

"Well, I'd best be off" I said "I have hunting to do, even though I'm the king's uncle, I still need to hunt for both myself and the Pride" I rolled my eyes.

"Have fun" Shavu called after me as I hopped down the rocks.

"I'd rather be attacked by hyenas again" I called back; I left to the sound of Shavu's laughter.

I promptly trotted to the stretching meadows of the savannah; in front of me was a herd of wildebeest. I crouched down in the long, dried grass, my tail tip flicking from side to side. I crept forward, until I was close enough to pick out the weakest member. My ears flicked as I heard a rustle of grass from my right, I looked in the direction and prepared myself for a rival lion.

But what actually greeted me…Was my great-niece, Kiara "Oh, hey Grunkle Scar!" Kiara chirped. At her loud, enthusiastic voice, the herd of wildebeest fled.

I rolled my eyes "Hush, I'm trying to hunt here" I snapped.

"Sorry…Can I help?"

"Do you even know _how_ to hunt?" I asked, starting to slink away from her, but turning my head over my shoulder to look at her.

"Sort of"

"From the tone you are using, I will presume that you know how, but just aren't very efficient" I said "Am I right?"

"Yeah…But you can teach me, right? You're my Great-Uncle" Kiara said, hopefully.

"So, because I'm your Great-Uncle, that gives me the absolute rule to teach you how to hunt? Surely your mother would have that wonderful privilege" I said "And anyway, lions normally hunt in Prides" I added as an afterthought.

"But you're not"

"I am pretty much a Rogue, I'm not allowed to sleep in the same cave as the rest of the Pride and I have to hunt to feed both myself _and_ the rest of the Pride, how many other Pride lions do you know that has that resting on their shoulders?"

Kiara opened her mouth to speak, but closed it promptly.

I sighed and turned my head back to face in front of me, creeping away to track the wildebeests again "I'll teach you" I said, begrudgingly.

Kiara raced to catch up with me and trotted at my side, holding herself up for all to see and constantly asking questions. For example: "How did you survive the hyenas?" and "Why did you decide to return?" and "How did you fight with your leg mauled?" Questions like this and more aggravated my brain and started to give me a headache.


	24. Just Listen to Teacher

"Quiet, there they are" I said, cutting off Kiara's train of questions. I crouched down closer to the ground and observed the herd "Now, crouch down like me and when I say 'Go', run after me and stay on the outside of the wildebeest I go for, I'll separate it for you" I said.

"What do we do after that?"

"You'll distract the wildebeest while I kill it"

"How do I-?"

"Do whatever you want, it doesn't matter, bite at its ankles or something, just try and keep its attention on you and not me" I said "In fact, try and injure it as much as possible"

"Ok" She said.

I crept a few steps closer and scanned the herd: There was a small foal, but he was sprightly thing, too energetic for me to catch. A big strong male walked around the herd, nudging them into position, keeping them together. And then I spotted it, a young bull male, rather muscled and well-fed, was nudged out of the way, limping on his hind leg. I smiled; this was the male that would sustain the Pride.

I started to creep forwards, quickly but quietly, I motioned with my tail for Kiara to stay put. I got as close as I dared to the animal, then I crouched, muscles bunched and then leapt forward, running for the animal. The wildebeest herd bellowed in fear and raced away, my wildebeest tried to keep up, but I leapt in front of it and blocked its way. The animal was unable to move quickly to avoid my snaps and scratches.

"Come on!" I yelled at Kiara. The young lioness raced towards me, jumping to the other side of the wildebeest. She snapped at its ankles and swiped her claws at its shoulder, cutting down the sweating body part. The beast brayed and raised its head to swing its horns at Kiara. I sensed this and leapt in front of my great-niece, barging her out of the way, the beast smashed its head into my left flank instead "ACK!" I cried out as the impact sent me flying across the ground, Kiara gasped and jumped in front of my face "Grunkle Scar, are you alright?"

I looked at my side, there was no blood or cuts, but it would definitely bruise "I'm fine, get back to that wildebeest"

Kiara raced off to try and stall the wildebeest; it had cantered away as best it could with its limp. I got to my feet and followed, every breath hurt but I soldiered on. I caught up with my great-niece; she was trying to jump onto the beast's back, but only succeeded in jumping on its rump and then slipping off.

I charged into a run and leapt at the wildebeest's neck, stretching out my forelegs, claws unsheathed, imagining the look on Kiara's face as I would collide with the animal's thick neck and killed it. But instead, the wildebeest galloped off lopsidedly and left me crashing on the ground, my legs sprawled out.

I raised my head, panting for breath "Drat!" I said "It was a decent try though"

"But you were hurt, because of me" Kiara cried.

"I've been in worse pain than that; I'll only have a bruise to prove the story, don't worry about it" I said, reaching out and ruffling her head "Now, come on, let's find a less feisty animal" I stood up and shook out my fur, cursing our failed hunt.

Kiara followed me, I could sense her staring intently at my side, I looked at her "A bruise won't come up just yet, give it a day or two" I said.

"I'm just…Really sorry, Grunkle" She whispered quietly, her eyes filling up.

"Hey!" I snapped, stopping in front of her "Don't blame yourself, you had no idea that the wildebeest would swing its head at you like that" I said "Ever since I survived the hyenas, my luck has just gone downhill, I can hardly take a walk without being ambushed" I said, this of course wasn't true, but I thought it would at least make my distraught student feel a little better.

"What do you mean? You get ambushed?"

"No, I thought it…Oh never mind" I said, giving up "Let's look for…A zebra, they're pretty easy to catch, a good place to start with a beginner" I changed the subject flawlessly "If an old grump like me can catch one, then I'm sure you can. And besides, they don't have horns"

"But they do have hooves" Kiara countered.

"Yes…But they use their teeth more than their hooves, if they stop and kick then they're just stopping themselves from getting away"

I walked on to the east. I could smell a zebra herd, and my jaws started to drip with saliva in anticipation of the taste of blood in my mouth. I suddenly felt like a hyena, slobbering idiotically over the thought of a meal. I licked my lips, cleaning the saliva off.

"Hey, Grunkle Scar, I can smell zebra" Kiara cried out excitedly.

"Really, I hadn't noticed it" I said, sarcastically.

"You didn't?! That must mean I'm getting better"

"You really are Simba's daughter, aren't you? You still don't understand sarcasm" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh…" Kiara didn't say another word after that and I relished in the silence.

Finally, I spotted the herd of zebras, gathered around the waterhole, grazing and drinking. A smile spread across my lips and I crouched low to the ground, my belly scraping the floor "Stay low" I whispered to Kiara "And this time, watch the teeth, if it goes to bite you, jump out of the way. Got it?"

Kiara nodded and crouched in the same position as me. I crept forwards, edging towards the zebra herd so that I could pick out the weakest. My eyes flicked from animal to animal, until I finally spotted a yearling that was very thin and sickly looking, my tail flicked and Kiara started to creep forwards even more, I stuck my right foreleg out and stopped her, my eyes were stuck on the zebra herd and I didn't even move in any way to look at the young lioness, but I sensed a dry twig where she would have put her paw. I picked up the twig between my two toes and threw it into the grass.

I snuck forward and got as close as possible to the herd, then jumped out of the grass and ran straight for the yearling, the zebras brayed and scattered. Kiara ran behind me, on my right, I veered to the left and barged between the yearling and a mare, I snapped at the mare's ankles and legs, pushing against her to separate the two zebras.

The mare snapped her teeth at my ear, but only managing to pull out a clump of mane hair instead of a clump of my ear. I raked my claws down her shoulder and that encouraged her to give up protecting the yearling and save herself…But not without throwing a kick at my head, which I ducked under and returned to the yearling unharmed.

I snapped my teeth at the yearling's ankles and caused the young thing to stumble. Kiara jumped up at its rump, digging in with her claws and gripping on, the yearling bucked and I swiped my paw at its feet again, causing it to stop and regain its footing. Kiara held on and jumped at the thin neck, pressing her claws into the skin, I willed her on silently and hoped that the luck she had suddenly gained wouldn't run out.

And it didn't, Kiara sunk her teeth into the zebra's neck and jumped off as the zebra fell to the ground, my great-niece looked at me desperately and I made the killing bite. Kiara cheered as the light faded from the yearling's eyes and leapt onto my back, she wrapped her forelegs round my neck and licked my cheek.

"We did it!" She cried.

I shook her off and looked at her on the ground, lying on her back and giggling "So it seems" I said, walking over to the top of the zebra's neck and starting to drag it home.

"Aren't you pleased?" Kiara asked, following in front of me.

"This isn't going to be enough to feed the whole Pride" I said, dropping the zebra to talk "I need to go hunting again"

"I'll go with you"

"No, I think you've done enough today" I said.

"But-"

"No, you…You're not the best hunter…Stick with being a princess" I said and resumed to dragging the zebra home.

"I've told you before, I don't care about being a princess" Kiara snapped.

I shrugged, but said nothing. The walk home was carried out in silence.


	25. A Sort ofFather-DaughterThing

After escorting Kiara home, I went out and stalked the wildebeest herd again, this time bringing down the same beast that escaped earlier. It left a trail of blood from its shoulder wound, so it wasn't too hard to track him. I dragged it home and left the animal lying where the Pride would gather to eat, in the shade under the jutting peak of Pride Rock. And then, I left to find my own dinner.

It was a sad hunt really; all I managed to catch was a pitiful excuse for an antelope colt, he was barely a month old. But as long as my stomach was filled and my frame didn't get any thinner, as long as my heart was still beating and I wasn't slowly dying of starvation, I was happy.

I held my head over my shoulder near the ground and dragged my meal along the ground. It didn't take me long to get back to my cave, just on the outskirts of the Pride's territory, the rocks leading down to my cave – behind which stood Pride Rock – marked the boundary line. I entered by the back entrance and dropped the dead animal on the ground. I sat down and stared at the limp foal in front of me.

Suddenly, I felt my stomach turning and I wanted to be violently sick…But why? I had been hunting for ages and I had seen more dead bodies like this than I could count. So why was I suddenly repulsed by the foal in front of me? I turned my back on it and sighed as my stomach growled in protest at me.

"Hey, Dad" I heard a voice from behind me.

I turned my head over my shoulder "Oh, Vitani" I said.

"Are you alright? You seem a little…" Vitani stuttered, trying to find the right words.

"Sad, depressed, unenthusiastic, put off my food? Yeah…That pretty much describes me at the minute" I said, turning my head back over my shoulder.

Vitani walked over and sat at my side, putting her head on my shoulder "What's the matter?"

"I don't really know, that's what I'm trying to work out" I looked back at the antelope "Are you hungry?" I asked without moving my head.

"Sure" Vitani walked over to the antelope and lay down at its head, she sank her teeth into the shoulder and ripped back, pulling off the skin and getting to the nutritious meat inside. I lay at its back and did the same to the stomach, blood spurting onto my muzzle.

Together, we polished off the foal quite quickly until the bones, hooves and the small stubs of horns were left. I stared at the remains and then stood up and gathered them together. I nudged them out of the cave and let them tumble to the ground; the vultures could finish them off. Some of the bones still held shreds of meat, mainly from my half of the antelope; I couldn't be bothered to lick the shreds off.

I returned to the cave and walked over to my ledge; I stepped onto it and flopped down on my side, my back facing Vitani. A huge sigh escaped my lungs and ruffled some cobwebs that happened to be sitting in the direction of my breath.

I didn't expect the sudden weight on my side; I raised my head and looked at Vitani lying on my body, her forepaws – one on top of the other – resting on my shoulder, her elbows hanging in the air. She smiled at me, as soon as her lips curved and twisted into a smile, my barriers came down and suddenly I felt my eyes starting to fill with moisture.

"Dad, please don't" But it was too late, tears rolled down my cheeks and my body convulsed with the motions of sobbing. Vitani got off my side and pressed her head into my mane, nuzzling and comforting "Please Dad, I've never seen you cry before" She whispered in my ear, I could hear her voice shaking.

"Y-You h-haven't s-seen a lot o-of m-me, full s-stop" I said through the waves of tears.

Vitani lay down and leant into me; she licked my ear and wrapped her head around my neck, hugging me. I threw my foreleg around her shoulders, burying my face in her fur.

I didn't even know why I was crying, it may have been the fact that I hadn't seen my daughter smile for what felt like years, or maybe it was the sheer moment of joy that I felt spending time with the lioness that I had only seen for three days.

I swallowed and wiped my eyes with my paw, and took a shaky breath to calm myself down "Sorry, love…You shouldn't have seen that" I said "It's me that should be comforting you, not the other way round" I said, trying to joke my way out of a tight corner.

Vitani giggled half-heartedly "Dad, it's not a rule of parenting for the parent to comfort the child; I had to comfort Mum whenever she started to grieve…I didn't really understand…But I could tell she was upset, so I did what I could…Nuka too…Not Kovu, in fact he had just been born at the time" She said.

I sighed "I wish I had just run whilst I still had the chance…Instead of deciding I was an idiot and fighting" I said "But I _am_ glad that I fought back against the hyenas, if I hadn't…I wouldn't be able to spend time with my beautiful daughter now" I nuzzled her cheek and tugged her ear gently.

Vitani grinned and stood up "Kovu wants to talk to you, I'm not sure what about, but I'll give you two some privacy" She said. Then, without giving me a chance to say anything, she left my cave and travelled up to Pride Rock.

My stomach churned with nerves and my tail started to flick in agitation. I hadn't been this nervous since…Since a time I didn't want to think about. My father wasn't best pleased with my antics as a cub, he said "Fraternizing with hyenas will cause you trouble one day, much like today" A shudder racked my body as I thought about it: My bleeding eye dripping blood on the rock ground, my father snarling and my brother cowering.

"Scar" Kovu's voice echoed around the cave.

I turned "Ah, Kovu, you wanted to talk to me I believe" I said.

"Yes" Kovu walked over to me and sat in front of me.

"You're not full of conversation, are you?"

"I will be in a minute" Kovu growled.

"Alright, alright, no need to be snappy"

"I just want you to know that whatever you say, whatever you do…I will _never_ forgive you for what you have done" Kovu snapped "You murdered your own brother, took the throne with no right and-"

"Kovu, I am aware of what I have done" I said "You do not need to grill me over it" I sighed "Now, if you have nothing more to say" I stood up "Get _out_" I snarled the last word, showing my set of teeth.

My adopted son said nothing and stormed out, back to Pride Rock, back to his mate.

Surprisingly, I felt emotionless, empty. I didn't even feel sad about losing another member of my family; I sat down and stared at the ground, my fur bristling angrily. The last lion I wanted to see now was Simba or Nala. I half expected the both of them to walk in as soon as the thought crossed my mind, but they didn't. And to keep it that way, I stood up and walked out of the cave, and into the savannah.


	26. I Am More that What I Have Become

Paws that I felt could take me anywhere, carried me across the burning sand of the savannah; dry grass brushed my side and tickled my belly. My claws flicked stones to the side and my paws brushed over dead twigs. Flies buzzed in my ears and crickets hopped past my nose, birds sang above me and mice scurried past my whiskers that were hanging low to the ground, occasionally brushing the grains of sand.

I had walked past Rafiki's tree and I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going until my paw didn't touch solid ground again, it hung in the air and I jerked back to my senses when I realised where I was; the craggy rock and barren soil, the heat that hammered down on me and the herd of wildebeest on the other side all told me that I was back at the scene of the crime.

It seemed almost ironic that I had nearly died from the sudden drop after I had ended another's life here. I hadn't realised it, but this was the place where both Nuka and Zira had died. I started to back away, slowly at first, and then it escalated into a frantic scrambling of limbs. I whipped round and scrambled back across the savannah, I was heading to the left of Pride Rock, towards whatever lay beyond the Pridelands.

As I passed my cave, I heard a shout of "Dad, Dad, where are you?" I stopped; it was Vitani; I looked into the mouth of my little home and saw Vitani standing in the middle of the quaint little place, eyes shut, tears running down her cheeks "It was all an act, he left me, just when I needed him the most" She said.

Her words pulled at my heart strings and I placed my paw on the ledge that would lead me into my home, the click of my claws on the rock caused her to open her eyes and look up "**DAD!**" She yelled, her voice echoing off the rock walls, she launched herself at me and pressed her paws into my chest, knocking me over and pinning me on the floor.

"I never left, you know, I only went for a walk" I said.

"I thought you'd left me…And I was never going to see you again"

"I know, but I'll never leave you, not until I can't fight my passing anymore"

"Don't, please, I don't want to think about that yet" Vitani nuzzled her head into my mane just under my right cheek.

I put one paw on her shoulder blades and the other on her back and hugged her into me. My heart was heavy as I remembered this was how I and Zira had cuddled; Vitani was exactly in the same position as my mate had been all those years ago.

I had gotten used to the grief; the uncomfortable heavy sensation in the bottom of my heart and my stomach, the petrifying nightmares that left me jerking awake in a cold sweat, the knowledge that I would never see her face again, the heart-breaking memories that assaulted my brain and the blackness whenever I closed my eyes.

I hated all of it, but I lived with it; what was the point of living, when I had fought so hard for it, and all I was going to do was mope and remember old times? The only way to look was forward, to press forward, to think about the future and to stop living in the past, the past that could never be regained.

I pushed Vitani off and rolled onto my front, then pushed up onto my paws. I turned around and looked into Vitani's eyes "Come on" I said and walked in the direction of Rafiki's tree "I want you to meet a friend of mine" Vitani followed at my side, she didn't speak; she just walked in silence.

I stopped at the rocks that led up to Rafiki's tree. I put one forepaw on the first rock and climbed up, I turned my head over my shoulder to look at my daughter, I indicated with my head for her to start climbing. She followed me up the rocks.

I entered the bowl and looked over at Shavu; he was awake, his head was held up and staring out of the gap in the tree where you could see the land stretching out towards the never-ending horizon. I walked over to him and nudged the back of his head, his silky soft mane brushing my muzzle. The lion swung his head around and grinned at me "Hey Scar" He said.

"Hi, I brought Vitani over" I said, looking over at my daughter.

"Well, hello" He said, beaming "I'm Shavu"

"I'm Vitani" She said, a little shyly.

I backed away and sat down, Vitani padded closer and sat down in front of my friend, and they spoke for a while, getting the small talk out of the way and starting a larger conversation.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see my healer, my friend, Rafiki. I smiled at him "How have you been keeping?" I asked.

"Fine, but the real question is: How have _you_ been keeping?" He said.

I looked away "I'm ok…I've gotten used to the grief at least" I sighed "But…It isn't…Happy, if you know what I mean" I added.

Rafiki nodded "I understand; grief is a funny thing, it never leaves you alone until you are able to push through it and think about other things" He said, nodding.

I said nothing, looking away from him and cast my eyes to the floor. Rafiki put his hand on the bony shoulder blades that jutted up and rubbed his hand up and down them. It couldn't have been comfortable for him, my bones weren't exactly soft.

Rafiki ran his hand down to the middle of my back, the area where I always enjoyed a scratch. A smile spread up my jaw and my back instinctively straightened up in pleasure. My teeth gritted and my claws flexed, then the pleasure stopped, Rafiki had taken his hand off my back and had placed it in his lap, I stretched my forelegs out, gently sliding down onto my belly, crossing my right paw over the middle of my left leg.

The monkey did nothing, he only sat where he had been before, I looked round at him and saw him meditating, his legs crossed and his arms held up and his eyes were closed, his finger and thumb touching. I shook my head and looked over at Vitani, she was laughing heartily and Shavu was looking very pleased with himself.

"What's so funny?" I asked; I was getting a little paranoid.

"I was just telling your daughter about how you leapt into the waterhole in the Roguelands" Shavu said, beaming.

"Well, isn't that nice?" I said sarcastically "You're telling my daughter of the fun that I never knew I was able to have and degrading yourself at the same time: You have, of course, told her that you leapt in after me?"

Shavu's face flushed and his mouth moved, trying to form words "W-Well…" He trailed off.

Vitani was almost choking on her own laughter, her head was thrown back and her body was juddering with the force of laughing and trying to breath at the same time. I smirked triumphantly "Speechless are you, Shavu?" I said.

The cream lion sucked in his lips and glared at me "Cheers for that" He said.

"Come on, Vitani, let's go home before you die laughing" I said, standing up. Vitani stood up too, still laughing and I started to walk to the entrance "See you Rafiki, Shavu" I said over my shoulder.

As we walked, my mind wandered over how my life had turned around: I had started out life as a cold, unloved son and matured into a ruthless, sarcastic, murderous brother. I had almost been killed by my own hyena henchmen, but I had survived and gotten my battle scars, fighting for this life had been one of the best things I had ever done. I had turned from a murderer to a soldier, from an unloved son to king of my daughter's heart.

Overall, I had found my inner Pridelander.


End file.
